House of MIRRORS

In Paris, Kannagi Desai steps into CHANEL's prismatic maze to discover Chance Eau Splendide—a fragrance that spins optimism, mystery & boldness into a dazzling new chapter

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Chance is a word imbued with potential. It holds within it the whisper of chaos, the illusion of randomness, the thrill of a decision made on instinct alone. Gabrielle Chanel understood that better than anyone. Chance, to her, was not passive luck but something pursued with nerve and conviction. Walking into CHANEL's latest fragrance installation in Paris-a kaleidoscopic hall of mirrors where reflection fractured into possibility—I was reminded that chance rarely appears by accident. Sometimes, it's a perfume trail you choose to follow.

A NEW CHANCE, A NEW COLOUR

At the heart of this luminous labyrinth was Chance Eau Splendide, the newest interpretation of CHANEL's everevolving ode to optimism. Created by Olivier Polge, CHANEL's in-house perfumer, Eau Splendide feels at once familiar and radically fresh.

"The origins of Chance lie in an idea and a state of mind," Polge tells me. "It's not about a strict formula, but about capturing a feeling-something lively, direct, surprising." For this newest chapter, he wanted to reframe that emotion through a new prism, crafting a fragrance that was fruitier, sparklier, and a touch more irreverent than its predecessors.