What has Chanel No. 5 to do with Soviet Red Moscow perfume
RBTH
07 May 2021, 04:55 GMT+10
What s common between the most famous Western scent and the emblematic Soviet aroma? Both have roots in Russian Imperial history.
No perfume was more popular in Soviet times than Red Moscow. As everything in the Communist state, people decorated their homes in the same way, ate the same meals and dressed in the same way. Likewise, Soviet women all had the same scent. It filled the air on every festive occasion in the Soviet Union - at the Moscow Conservatory, in the Bolshoi Theatre, at graduation ceremonies and weddings, German historian Karl Schlögel writes in his book, The Scent of Empire. Chanel No. 5 and Red Moscow, (Translated by Jessica Spengler, Polity publications, 2021).
What has Chanel No. 5 to do with Soviet Red Moscow perfume? Kira Lisitskaya (Photo: Chanel, Novaya Zarya) What’s common between the most famous Western scent and the emblematic Soviet aroma? Both have roots in Russian Imperial history.
No perfume was more popular in Soviet times than Red Moscow. As everything in the Communist state, people decorated their homes in the same way, ate the same meals and dressed in the same way. Likewise, Soviet women all had the same scent. It filled the air on every festive occasion in the Soviet Union - at the Moscow Conservatory, in the Bolshoi Theatre, at graduation ceremonies and weddings, German historian Karl Schlögel writes in his book,