Bleu de Chanel

**Bleu de Chanel** (literally translated as _"Chanel's Blue"_ or _"Blue Chanel"_) is a men's fragrance created by Jacques Polge for the French fashion brand Chanel in 2010. It was the first men's fragrance released by the brand since Allure Homme Sport in 2004, and their first men's masterbrand since Égoïste was introduced in 1990. The original fragrance is an eau de toilette; the 2014 eau de parfum version was also created by Jacques Polge, and the 2018 parfum version was created by his son, Olivier Polge. French actor Gaspard Ulliel was chosen as the first ambassador for Bleu de Chanel in 2010 and remained as the face of the fragrance for twelve years, until his death in January 2022.

## Release and advertising

French actor Gaspard Ulliel was announced as the first ambassador of Bleu de Chanel on 16 February 2010, becoming Chanel's first male ambassador. A television commercial filmed in New York City premiered online on 25 August 2010 and was later released on TV in September 2010. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and starred Ulliel and Ingrid Sophie Schram. In the commercial, Ulliel played a young filmmaker in the middle of a press conference who sees his ex-girlfriend (Schram) among the journalists and remembers the past and the beginning of their relationship, until he says: "I'm not going to be the person I'm expected to be anymore", gets up and leaves the room. The video also featured The Rolling Stones' song "She Said Yeah".

Chanel's American chief operating officer John Galantic noted that the selection of "the quintessential American film director" Scorsese was intended to create "a product and brand communication uniquely tailored to the American market," where the brand's men's fragrance business was not fully developed.

The fragrance was released in stores on 13 September 2010.

On 5 February 2015, a new commercial starring Ulliel was released. Directed by James Gray, it was filmed in Los Angeles and featured Jimi Hendrix's cover of Bob Dylan's song "All Along the Watchtower".

British filmmaker Steve McQueen directed a new commercial for Bleu de Chanel released on 1 June 2018. Shot in Bangkok, it also included underwater scenes filmed in London. It featured Ulliel crossing the city looking for a woman (played by German model Nur Hellmann) he saw in a building in front of his while David Bowie's "Starman" plays in the background.

Ulliel was the face of Bleu de Chanel for twelve years, until his death on 19 January 2022. When he died, Chanel's official Instagram and Facebook pages shared a tribute to him. Chanel also paid tribute to Ulliel during their Spring/Summer 2022 Haute Couture show at the Paris Fashion Week on 25 January 2022. A model dressed as a bride finished the show by carrying a bouquet of camellias—Coco Chanel's favorite flower—tinted midnight blue as a nod to Ulliel and the Bleu de Chanel perfume.

On 2 June 2022, Chanel released the first commercial for Bleu de Chanel without Gaspard Ulliel. In the new commercial titled "Instinctive and Electric", a drummer (played by musician Vincent Girault aka De La Romance) plays along with "Fire" by Jimi Hendrix while lights throughout the city start to flicker to the beat and a mysterious woman shows the city to him.

## Awards

|style="width:5%;"|Year|style="width:25%;"|Ceremony|style="width:30%;"|Award|style="width:10%;"|Result|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2011|Fragrance Foundation Awards|Best New Male Fragrance||||||
|2015|Canadian Fragrance Awards|Best Full-Market Launch – Men's||||||
|rowspan=2|2019|rowspan=2|Fragrance Foundation Awards|Fragrance of the Year – Men’s Luxury||||
|Media Campaign of the Year – Men's||||||||