On a rainy night in April, at the base of Tokyo Tower, an audience awaits with bated breath. The transformation occurs in a matter of seconds and in what feels like a flip of a switch. Blink and there it is—a collective flood of light illuminating the entirety of the structure, all in a precise shade of purple. The same hue as Chanel’s newly launched scent; a watershed moment in the maison’s storied history.“The Chance Eau Splendide comes in this beautiful lavender. It is the colour of magic and lightness as well as mystery and nobility,” muses Olivier Polge, Chanel’s perfumer. “It is fruity and floral. It is joy for the spirit.”
Like the other perfumes within the Chance family, Eau Splendide conveys a sense of effervescence that serves as the backbone of the range. A kind of exuberance, if you will, that contrasts delightfully with the refined, quiet nuance of Les Exclusifs de Chanel. And yet, it’s clear to see that the Chance Eau Splendide sets itself apart even from the other variants within its collection. This distinctness can perhaps be attributed to its potent utilisation of raspberry accord—thus cementing its status as the maison’s first fruit-led fragrance—but its unique campaign and messaging assert that there is more to it than a simple switch up of ingredients. Rather, it has to do with the scent’s ambassador and muse, Belgian singer, Angèle.
A roll of the dice
To say that Chance Eau Splendide is an embodiment of Angèle’s spirit is, by and large, accurate; a showcase of her essence through Polge’s lens and, thus, an amalgamation of both their sensibilities. The 29-year-old musician and performer points this out during an interview with Vogue Singapore, gesticulating animatedly with her hands as she talks. “I feel the most like myself when it’s spring going into summer. The time when fruits and flowers bloom,” she explains. “So, there was something about the inclusion of raspberry in the Chance Eau Splendide that felt reflective of my personality.”
Indeed, it’s safe to say that the pop supernova’s influence on the fragrance is prevalent. Alongside raspberry are notes of rich, honeyed rose geranium, as well as smoky cedar—descriptors widely associated with Angèle’s voice. The story behind Chance Eau Splendide, too, reads like her life story; a tale of perseverance and daring, aided by moments of sheer good fortune.
“At the beginning of my career about eight or nine years ago, I was taking all the opportunities that I could to put myself out there,” she laughs. “I did openings for other artists, even when they were not artists who would do the same type of music as I did. I was uploading videos of me singing on social media, which was not something that was done back then.”
Her dedication paid off. In a stroke of luck, Angèle’s cover of ‘Bruxelles’ by Dutch singer, Dick Annegarn, began gaining traction in 2017. She opted to ride the momentum garnered from the track by releasing her first single shortly after in the second half of the year. La Loi de Murphy received millions of views on YouTube and the rest, as they say, is history.
A chance of a lifetime
As for this year, Angèle shows no signs of stagnation. She performed at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony last year and has since composed a song for the Chance Eau Splendide campaign.“The song is called ‘A Little More’. I was in New York then, so I started writing the track in English. It’s what came to mind, even though I usually sing in French. I wanted to keep one French sentence, though, and the one I went with was j’y crois encore,” she explains, pausing to give a brilliant smile. “It means, I still believe in it.”
In what, exactly? Cryptic as it might sound, there is no doubt that this unknowable force is the lifeblood of Chanel’s latest olfactive addition. Call it keen intuition paired with audacity or perhaps an unflinching belief in oneself to turn a gamble into a gambit. Whichever it is, there’s no time like the present to exude it. A spritz of Chance Eau Splendide should do the trick.
This story appears in Vogue Singapore’s May ‘Sonder’ issue, available online.
