Chanel installs immersive experience at Selfridges to celebrate its Factory 5 collection

Chanel has taken over the "Corner Shop" on the ground floor of Selfridges Oxford Street and installed an immersive experience to celebrate the launch of its Factory 5 collection.

Factory 5 has been created to mark 100 years of Chanel No. 5 and repackages the iconic fragrance as a series if everyday household items, such as shower gel pods in a paint tin, body oil in a burette, shower gel in a washing-up liquid bottle and bath tablets in a tea tin.

The collection also includes non-fragrance items such as a glass water bottle and decorated tape.

Inspiration for Factory 5 and the use of mundane packaging is a reference to the original packaging for No. 5, which was an ordinary laboratory bottle.

"By taking popular consumer items out of their context and dressing them up in the aesthetics of No. 5, we return to Chanel's first creative gesture: that of transforming a functional object into a desirable luxury item. That's what Chanel Factory 5 is all about: offering the experience of luxury in everyday life," explained Chanel head of global creative resources fragrance and beauty Thomas du Pré de Saint Maur.

The Corner Shop at Selfridges has been transformed into a consumer goods factory realised in the luxury house's signature black and white livery, punctuated by pops of vivid colours that flash on large video screens that hang from the walls and line the glass cases full of products.

Visitors can follow the journey of the Factory 5 products through various workstations where they can witness robotic arms in action, along with bottles of No. 5 making their way throughout the space on conveyor belts.

On Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening the Chanel Factory 5 "Night Shift" arrives transforming the space into a party-like atmosphere. Guests will be given a Factory 5 ink stamp on entry and enjoy entertainment by live DJs.

A virtual version of Factory 5 can be viewed on the Chanel website.