Career: thirty-seven years at Chanel
Jacques Polge joined Chanel in 1978, succeeding Henri Robert. That made him the third in-house perfumer in the brand's history, after Ernest Beaux and Henri Robert. He stayed until 2015, when his son Olivier took over. His first major feminine for the house, Coco, came out in 1984. Allure followed in 1996, then Coco Mademoiselle in 2001 and Chance in 2002, all speaking to a younger clientele. On the men's side, Allure Homme Sport in 2004 and Bleu de Chanel in 2010 extended that line. With Christopher Sheldrake he also built the Les Exclusifs collection, which Coromandel has belonged to since 2007. That long tenure explains the coherence of his page: a steady taste for clean structures with no needless rough edges. Few perfumers have held the pen for a single house for so long.
Style: clean patchouli and restraint
The clearest thread on this page is patchouli. Coco Mademoiselle, Chance and Coromandel put it at the centre, but always cleaned up and free of the damp-cellar feel of 1970s patchouli. Polge pairs it with citrus and vetiver for a chic sense of cleanliness. Vanilla also returns in the base of Allure, Coco Mademoiselle and Chance, always with a light hand. His masculines follow the same logic. Bleu de Chanel sets citrus and ginger on sandalwood and incense, while Allure Homme Sport plays orange and tonka. Nothing overflows, and no creation in the selection goes above 4 out of 5 for intensity. That is his strength and his limit. Allure and Bleu de Chanel can feel too safe to us, and Chance has been imitated so often that its sparkling patchouli now seems familiar. Only Coco, with its spices and amber, shows a more opulent Polge.
