Jacques Polge has been the head of Parfums Chanel since 1978 and third ever director of the perfume division, taking over from Henri Robert. He is also Chanel’s house perfumer. When he came on board, Chanel was one of only a few fashion houses that had its own in-house nose. Today, it is quite unique in being the only house where all its fragrances are made in its laboratory by its own nose. To Polge’s credit, he was the first nose working completely alone, getting no input from Coco Chanel who passed away in 1971. But he was able to produce a perfume for Chanel that was very much in line with her desires. Being the company’s nose for more than two-and-a-half decades, Polge has established many top-selling, timeless fragrances including: Allure, Bois Noir and Coco.