In Perfumes: the A-Z Guide, Luca Turin writes that Chanel Coco Mademoiselle was a quickly assembled flanker, and its success surprised Chanel. However, in Women’s Wear Daily¹ before Coco Mademoiselle launched, Chanel’s “Vice President of fragrance and internet marketing”² said Coco Mademoiselle could double Coco’s business. In the same article, “industry insiders” guessed Coco Mademoiselle might earn as much as $15 million its first year.

Maybe Chanel’s statement about doubling Coco’s earnings was merely grandstanding for the press, but Women’s Wear Daily later reported Coco Mademoiselle raked in $21 million that first year.³ It also broke records by winning the FiFi for Prestige Fragrance in all the FiFi countries — the United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Great Britain — as well as being awarded the European Star of the Year. Coco Mademoiselle has continued to hold its ground. The NPD Group, a market research firm, listed it as the third best selling fragrance in the United States in 2008…

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