Magnolia in perfumery (1)

If Chanel had to release a perfume for their collection Paris Moscou, now in stores in Paris, this would have been their vintage Magnolia. This is a rare vintage creation that shares the story evoked in the movie created by Karl Lagerfeld.
In 1929 Alexander Vertinskiy (Александр Вертинский), a Russian artist and poet, was recording Magnolia Tango (listen to the original), a song he wrote several years ago. He fled Russia in November 1920, toured Europe and by the mid 20's he was singing in Paris, performing in Montmartre cabarets. But why should we relate the common flower magnolia from his song to Russia and to Chanel? Because Vertinskiy knew Chanel and without question he liked her very much. Another song he wrote in 1925 called Злые духи (evil perfume) speaks about love but also about the scent from Paris that escapes from a Chanel bottle in the refrain (Что летят из Парижа на юг / Из флакона "Шанель"). In the song Magnolia Tango he speaks about "lemon and bananas", that by coincidence are 2 important notes of the magnolia - the flower is very lemony while the benzyl acetate (banana) evokes the white flower / jasmine exotic note. Lemon and banana would be the words used by someone who is not a perfumer to describe a very exotic type of magnolia, not the regular light one. And now comes even a more surprising fact. Is the Singapore magnolia from Vertinskiy's song a flower or a perfume? It might be very well a perfume. When he was singing his songs in Paris and Chanel was probably in public using a creation of Ernest Beaux, in Soviet Russia a very rare perfume was on the market. It was called Extrait Magnolia de Soukhoum (TEJE Moscou) and it was produced by the new cosmetic trust TEJE (ТэЖэ - "Tрест Жиркость") During the early 20's the first soviet perfumes were using both the formulas of Rallet / Brocard and the old bottles still in stock. This bottle of Magnolia de Soukhoum is a classic perfume bottle (like that one used by Coty for La Rose Jacqueminot) from the pre 1917 production while the label shows also a classic design in the old "bourgeois style", without the new revolutionary designs. Was Magnolia from TEJE the same as Magnolia from Chanel? Impossible to tell without comparing the 2 perfumes and the Russian is virtually impossible to find. But it is highly probable that both have the same perfumer behind. Ernest Beaux was using both his previous experiences and formulas (updating them with the new bases). Once I described the Chanel perfume that is less the classic magnolia type and more an opulent exotic.

The English version of Tango Magnolia starts with:
In banana-lemon Singapore, in storms,
When the ocean sings and cries
And drives in dazzling blues
A distant caravan of birds...
In banana-lemon Singapore, in storms,
When your heart is in silence,
You grieve alone,
Frowning you dark blue eyebrows.
Like all decadent artists of the period, Vertinskiy was addicted to cocaine (and even wrote a song for that). In the 20's the surname Coco was known more for the parties that Gabrielle Chanel threw in Paris (2 of her best friends, Cocteau and Misia became also "addicted" to cocaine and to coco). The beautiful Cartier / Van Cleef & Arpels powder boxes were famous less for their Art Deco design and more for their "new use" in the decadent flapper era.

The formula for Magnolia was not just very Coco, it was also very coco(nut) exotic and like Chanel perfumes it was addictive and sensual.
Karl Lagerfeld created a silent movie for the fashion collection Paris Moscou, but if it was a talkie the music would be Magnolia Tango and the scent in the room would be this forgotten Chanel perfume.
Later, Vertinskiy would join the community of Shanghai Russians where he would have met Shanghai Lily and maybe he smelled imaginary camellias like those depicted on Coco's Coromandel panels in her apartment.

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