CHANEL never treated chance as a stroke of luck. For Gabrielle Chanel, it was a decision. A move made with purpose. “Chance is my soul,” she famously declared. In the universe she created, chance doesn’t arrive uninvited, it’s pursued, created, and claimed. That philosophy lives on in CHANEL’s fragrance line CHANCE, a series that doesn’t play by the rules but instead reshuffles the board entirely. With CHANCE EAU SPLENDIDE, the house opens a fresh chapter in this ever-evolving olfactory saga, a vivid, purple-hued invitation to go off-script and follow intuition.
FRAGRANCES
The CHANCE collection, introduced in 2003 by Jacques Polge, offered an entirely new rhythm for CHANEL perfumes. It moved with a lightness and spontaneity that defied the brand’s signature codes while preserving their precision. The original CHANCE stood out as a burst of unpredictable charm. It didn’t linger quietly, it danced, laughed, and surprised. Later interpretations extended the concept into a quartet of personalities: CHANCE EAU FRAÎCHE in vivid green, CHANCE EAU TENDRE in gentle pink, CHANCE EAU VIVE in vibrant orange, and the original, luminous yellow CHANCE.
Now, CHANCE EAU SPLENDIDE arrives with its own shade, violet. A color linked to intuition, enchantment, and power, it announces its presence without noise. Instead, it seduces through paradox. Crafted by Olivier Polge, CHANEL’s In-House Perfumer-Creator, the fragrance is simultaneously rooted and weightless, complex and playful. Polge doesn’t mimic the past; he constructs a new personality altogether.
The scent opens with a radiant raspberry accord, crisp and bright, quickly giving way to floral layers that include rose and violet. At its center is rose geranium, partly sourced from CHANEL’s fields in Grasse, lending the composition both freshness and intensity. As the fragrance settles, white musk and cedar take hold, elegant, clean, and earthy, tempered by the softness of powdery iris. It’s a scent that surprises in waves, holding its shape while constantly revealing new sides.
To match the energy of CHANCE EAU SPLENDIDE, CHANEL turned to Belgian pop icon Angèle as the face of the fragrance. Known for turning personal setbacks into artful provocations, Angèle brings intelligence and exuberance to the campaign. Since her 2019 debut, she has created a space in contemporary music defined by irony, honesty, and light. Her song “A Little More,” written for the campaign directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, captures the perfume’s rhythm perfectly, delicate but unafraid, with a wink that turns into a smile.
The campaign unfolds in a hall of mirrors, a carnival dream space where Angèle must navigate illusion and reflection to seize her chance. The mirrored labyrinth becomes a metaphor for the self, for the endless reframing of identity and luck. In that space of distortions and dazzle, CHANCE EAU SPLENDIDE does not just reflect. It refracts. It becomes the gesture, the leap, the choice.
The bottle, round and polished like a lucky talisman, sits among its predecessors like the final piece in a vibrant set. Each CHANCE fragrance contains a distinct energy, but all carry the same intention, to express the mood of a moment and the courage it takes to embrace it. CHANCE EAU SPLENDIDE doesn’t imitate that formula; it reinvents it. With its purple hue, it speaks to a different kind of radiance: one that isn’t loud, but undeniable.
CHANEL’s newest fragrance doesn’t offer guarantees. What it does offer is possibility. It invites the wearer to throw the dice again, to trust instinct, to imagine a game with infinite outcomes. CHANCE EAU SPLENDIDE doesn’t tell you the rules. It hands you the bottle and dares you to invent them.
