Coco was the first women's perfume created by Jacques Polge, who became Chanel's third house perfumer in 1978, after Ernest Beaux and Henri Robert. Chanel's history describes it as a floral oriental inspired by the Venetian style and baroque universe of Gabrielle Chanel.
The launch made history in another way. Ines de la Fressange became its face, and the house says she was the first model to sign an exclusive contract with a couture house as its spokesperson. Paolo Roversi photographed the 1984 campaign.
In 1991 Vanessa Paradis starred in a Coco commercial by Jean-Paul Goude, in which she played a bird in black feathers swinging in a cage. Polge later revisited the name for Coco Mademoiselle, launched in 2001 for a younger audience.