Soundtrack : Paul Van Dyk Duality
( A rhythm for the invisible pulse that guides the line, the perfume, the song the letter)
Chanel’s elegance has a structure. The Hebrew alphabet has a hidden geometry. Together they reveal the same inner logic
. I will draw on an advertisement – that of the perfume Coco Mademoiselle to unveil it.
Having said this..- shall we?
Vertical and Horizontal Relationships in the Hebrew Alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet
In Sefer Yetzirah – The Book of Formation – the world has been formed through 22 letters. These are all pure consonants of creation. They are written from right to left. A logic which seems inward almost returning towards beginning, essence , the perfume’s elixir. In this sense it flirts with synaesthesia – where registers fuse
Each one of the letters has:
- A numerical value (gematria)
- A symbolic meaning
- A form divinely patterned – a sublte emanation – what lingers beyond sense
The Hebrew alphabet is a linguistic cosmology, a blueprint for creation.
Let’s take the word blueprint
Its numerical value based on the numerical order of the vowels in the English alphabet is 21 +5+9 + = 35=8
Having said this –
The number 8 on a vertical axis is a form, but it involves movement up and down. Horizontally it blooms into infinity which is infinite potential and a mathematical concept .
This accord between form and freedom is the sacred rhythm of the Hebrew alphabet – a geometry that breathes.
Vertical level
On a vertical note
one other thing characterizing the alphabet it that is has a fluid geometry.
Curved letters are somehow poised and angular ones alive.
Let’s take 2 letters to see how it works
Mem (מ)
This letter is round , enclosed especially the final one which is a closed circle.
Yet, despite its curvature, nothing seems to spill out. Think of it as an architectural curve, a dome not a wave.
Lamed (ל)
Tall and upright , the only letter rising about the writing line. But if you look it closely , its head bends soflty , it has a gentle curve. It is not pure geometry, it is geometry with grace.
if we were to look at these together, we notice two patterns:
- The alternative element is discreet, this is in line with something inherent in the Hebrew Philosophy. The divine is veiled, its power is quiet.
- Each hides within it the other , their relationship is centripetal
Horizontal level
At a horizontal level , letters open into in 3 groupings that reflect a deep inner architecture of creation.
Letters 1 to 7 mirror the world taking form – order.
Letters 8 -14 unfold through the waking up consciousness – free will- human exploration – inner animation
Letter 15 -22 blossom into wisdom, vision a phase where the previous 2 opposite stages have been merged. It ends with Tav, the seal but not closure as it seems to return to essence but on a higher octave after the lessons learned along the way -illuminated.
Letters 15-22 that is phase 3 flows into to the emergence of the so called higher simplcity. It is simplicity that has passed through complexity and lands in peace and understanding.
At this level you are able to hold paradox without splitting tender and strong
say little but discenr much
act in alliance with the higher harmony
At this level
your language becomes fragrance , you communicate more through atmosphere and presence and less with words.
Fragnance language
In harmony with Hebrew being a fragrance language I will use metaphors to render the inner logic of the alphabet.
I realise I will crystallize, intentionally, unconventional even daring links between the luminous divinity of the alphabet and the philosophy and aesthetics behind the ad of this perfume and Chanel overall.
However referencing Umberto Eco lightness is a way to approach the truth obliquely, the latter being inherent in Hebrew at deep level. Intimately the alphabet and the perfume follow parallel semiotic routes softening into the Archetype of the Sovereign Muse that the Chanel perfume embodies
The Advertisement for Coco Mademoiselle perfume
Flowing from the soundtrack of the ad, the original song is the It is a man’s man’s man’s world but it would be nothing without a woman or a girl. The song featuring at the ad is a cover version by Joss Stone .
What is brilliant about the song is that Chanel reverses it. She keeps the same skeleton, the sonic gravitas but she is infuses the ad with female sensuality, it pictures a woman in beige silk confidently riding a motorcycle, elegant wallpapers in matching colours.
From a linguistic perspective point of view she contemplates the same sentence but she rewrites the syntax , she becomes a verb , movement.
The perfume itself is about a girl who is elegant and sensual but slightly mischievous, rebellious , self possessed . In this respect it has
Patchsouli, citrus peel , vetiver the male element
and jasmine, rose, vanilla, tonka bean the female element
Chanel ‘s QR code
The whole reversal process lies at the heart of her philosophy:
She turns what was considered masculine into the essence of modern femininity.
She borrows fabrics, silhouettes even attitudes from men’s world like jersey and blazers not to masculinize women but to free them ~~
In this ligth her philosophy rests on paradox: power vs restraint, seduction through simplicity.
What she actually does is to alchemize gender codes
She embraces what is deemed masculine (the Greek form: the suits, the line, the discipline)
and infuses it with female essence ( the sensuality, interiority )
The result in neither masculine nor feminine – it quietly blooms into someone who is self possessed – whole.
The result of this fusion is centripetal:
Her alchemy is centripetal in the woman doesn’t seek to dominate the world she wants it to orbirt her, she returns to her essence. This is why the protagonist doesn’t not seems aggressive she seems magnetic . The world bends softly towards her not through force but through sheer presence ~~
The advertisment narrative
Resonant with this reversal and the fusion the ad works on 2 levels: Vertical and horizontal just like the Hebrew alphabet
Vertical Level
On a vertical level, each scene has the synaesthesia of a sonnet. A sonnet is architectural ( form) but you find emotion and desire interweaved within the structure.
- The photo shoot is architectural, there are clean lines , white spaces but the female protagonist has an alluring , knowing smile
- The soundtrack has form, but the protagonist ‘ speaks’ in perfumes .Her words are without articulation, she communicates through scents , her aura , her atmosphere
- The motorcycle is a male symbol, but a woman rides in in the empty streets of Paris
- The female body is architectural – Chanel tailoring but her gaze is sensuous
Horizontal level : where her genius blooms
On the surface story , she wakes up in a minimalist Parisian flat, wearing beige silk with matching sensuous wallpapers . The sheets are white, the light is pure , the lines are clean, the room is bathed in Light.
Then we see her riding her motorcycle driving through the empty streets of Paris. She has the photo shoot , gets intimate with the male photographer and disappears ~~
If we were to see it in terms of the horizontal movement of the Hebrew alphabet it appears to function in reverse.
The ad starts from Aleph ( the waking up state of stillness ) moves into freedom (the motorcycle scene) and into form ( the photoshoot scene) with the protagonist dissolving in the end ( stillness).
This is not how the Hebrew progression blooms ( Aleph> form> freedom> stillness return to Aleph)
But Chanel’s genius lies in that this is what actually happens in the plot too.
The narrative starts where the movie ends. The waking up stage is the morning after the photoshoot. In this sense we actually have the photo shoot first, then the drive back home through the empty streets ending in the wake up scene which dissolves into silence, the diffusion of the perfume echoing the serenity on the protagonists phase. As we witness the gradual emancipation of the female protagonist, she doesn’t speak louder , she reverses the reading dissolving into serenity
Sillage …
The opening scene is both Aleph as innocence and Aleph revisited at a higher octave.
The protagonist starts up in citrus top notes ( form), softens into jasmine and rose ( sensuality freedom movement) and dissolves into patchouli base notes which is gravity with grace, the place where freedom and form merge.
The higher the octave in the revision process the deeper the olfactory silence, the serenity in the protagonist’s gaze .
Her soul bird has been set free , echoing the respective image of the ad opening scene..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fragnance card
World: The resonant world – where inner geometry turs into spiritual vibration
Accord: Hebrew – the base of sacred structure
Undertones : Greek ( clarity which reveals harmony ) and French ( refined expression- translating essence into elegance )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~