Chanel No. 5 was the first modern perfume

In 1921, French businesswoman and member of the Parisian social elite, Coco Chanel, created a scent that marked the beginning of modern perfume. Her main goal with Chanel No.5, the most famous perfume in history, was cleanliness. She wanted her customers to smell clean and fresh, no matter what they had been doing that day up until the point they sprayed her perfume on themselves. It took several months for her perfumer, Ernest Beaux, to get the correct formula down. He made 10 slightly different variations and Chanel selected number 5. The rest is history.