Chanel to Release New Fragrance

The fragrance is in homage to the late designer Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, and is intended to focus on the interplay between light and dark and the luminosity of black and Baroque elements.

The scent is a "luminous, transparent oriental," according to Christopher Sheldrake, perfumer for Chanel, and it has been developed by the company's master perfumer, Jacques Polge.

The scent is the third named after the designer, following Coco, release in 1984, and the hugely popular Coco Mademoiselle - which Keira Knightley is currently the face of - introduced in 2001.

Christopher added: "Noir sits in its own space. We are careful not to launch a lot of fragrances - we choose to create scents that represent an era, not a passing fancy."

The scent itself has top notes of grapefruit and Calabrian bergamot; a heart of rose absolute, rose essence, jasmine absolute, narcissus and rose geranium leaf, and a drydown of Brazilian tonka bean, Venezuelan tonka bean, Indonesia patchouli, New Caledonian sandalwood, bourbon vanilla and white musk frankincense.

The bottle will be in the classic Coco shape, in black with gold accents. Christopher added: "You can't see the juice inside, which makes it more mysterious."

The scent will appear on counters from August 17.