Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Beauty

    When Marie Claire Met Marilyn Monroe... Something Iconic Happened

    It's the interview that captured Marilyn Monroe at her most candid. And now Georges Belmont's famous meeting has landed the screen icon a brand new Chanel campaign

    By Rebecca Martin
    Published 17 October 2013 In News

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    Marilyn Monroe
    Marilyn Monroe
    (Image credit: Rex Features)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    It's the interview that captured Marilyn Monroe at her most candid. And now Georges Belmont's famous meeting has landed the screen icon a brand new Chanel campaign

    Marilyn Monroe has been announced by Chanel as the French fashion house's brand new campaign star of their Chanel No.5 fragrance ads – and it's got us thinking about that all-important interview the late screen icon gave to Marie Claire back in 1960.

    The actress' candid revelation about her love for the gorgeously feminine fragrance appeared in an article in 1952 that accompanied her first cover of Life Magazine: 'Marilyn, what do you wear to bed? So I said I only wear Chanel No.5.'

    But it's her interview in 1960 with Marie Claire France's editor-in-chief Georges Belmont, where the actress elaborated on her love for the iconic perfrume, which is fronting a brand new beauty campaign being unveiled on 1 November.

    George was interviewing Marilyn for her new film Let's Make Love by Georges Cukor, when the subject of her favourite fragrance was again addressed.

    You may like
    • Cara My Life in London Cara Delevingne on Designing Her First Collection for Topshop and London's Best-Kept Secrets
    • The end of signature scent Forget Searching For ‘the One’. When it Comes to Fragrance, Polyamory is in Fashion
    • Beauty Digest The Beauty Digest: Max Mara Bottles an Icon, a £12.99 Skincare Revelation and an Ode to the Classic Massage

    She said: 'You know, they ask me questions. Just an example: "What do you wear to bed? A pyjama top? The bottoms of the pyjamas? A nightgown?" So I said, "Chanel No.5", because it’s the truth... And yet, I don’t want to say "nude". But it’s the truth !'

    Marilyn Monroe

    Marilyn Monroe
    (Image credit: Rex Features)

    The interview also touches on Marilyn's infamous decision to pose nude to pay off her debts in 1949.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    Chanel has today released a stunning shot of the late star taken by Ed Feingersh from the archives which shows Marilyn clutching a bottle of Chanel No.5 and applying it to her chest. A full video campaign will be unveiled on Chanel's Facebook page within weeks.

    Marilyn is taking the reigns of the campaign over from Brad Pitt, over fifty years after her death. How incredible?!

    Listen to Georges' interview with Marilyn below...

    What to read next
    • New Beauty Launches: Burberry Beauty / Mes Beauty / rhute / Jo Loves / Ziip Beauty The Beauty Digest: Jennifer Lawrence’s Unexpected Haircare Launch, Burberry’s Exquisite New Perfumes and Jo Loves Sparks Festive Joy
    • models wearing new Sézane Sézane Just Launched the Most French Rebrand of All Time—Here's What We'll Shop
    • Jenny Lai Luxury Shoppers Put This One Thing Above All Else When Spending Their Money—And It’s Not What You Think

    Chanel No.5 – the truth behind the iconic fragrance

    Will we EVER get bored of this iconic movie moment?

    12 things you didn't know about Marilyn Monroe

    Got a tablet? You can now download Marie Claire magazine straight to your iPad, Kindle (just search the store for 'marie claire magazine'), Nook or Google Nexus.

    Rebecca Martin
    Social Links Navigation
    Read more
    Cara My Life in London
    Fashion Cara Delevingne on Designing Her First Collection for Topshop and London's Best-Kept Secrets
    The end of signature scent
    Fragrance Forget Searching For ‘the One’. When it Comes to Fragrance, Polyamory is in Fashion
     
     
    Beauty Digest
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Max Mara Bottles an Icon, a £12.99 Skincare Revelation and an Ode to the Classic Massage
    New Beauty Launches: Burberry Beauty / Mes Beauty / rhute / Jo Loves / Ziip Beauty
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Jennifer Lawrence’s Unexpected Haircare Launch, Burberry’s Exquisite New Perfumes and Jo Loves Sparks Festive Joy
     
     
    Latest in Beauty
    Oestrogen skincare
    Skincare Can Oestrogen Really Reverse Skin Ageing? MC Investigates Beauty’s Next Hormonal Frontier
    Grey Blending hair colour trend
    Hair Grey Blending Is Changing the Way We Colour Our Hair—Here’s Everything You Need to Know
     
     
    XERF treatment review
    Skincare I Tried XERF, the Skin-Tightening Treatment Everyone Is Talking About—Here's My Verdict
    New Beauty Launches: Burberry Beauty / Mes Beauty / rhute / Jo Loves / Ziip Beauty
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Jennifer Lawrence’s Unexpected Haircare Launch, Burberry’s Exquisite New Perfumes and Jo Loves Sparks Festive Joy
     
     
    Latest in News
    New Beauty Launches: Burberry Beauty / Mes Beauty / rhute / Jo Loves / Ziip Beauty
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Jennifer Lawrence’s Unexpected Haircare Launch, Burberry’s Exquisite New Perfumes and Jo Loves Sparks Festive Joy
    New Beauty Launches: Amouage, Haus Labs, XERF
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Is XERF Worth the Hype? Plus, Amouage’s New Body Collection & The Beauty Beat Returns
     
     
    Jeans And Jackets
    Shopping Celine Dion, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sarah Pidgeon Swear by This Trophy Jacket-and-Jeans Formula for Instant Fashion Confidence
    Next
    Shopping NEXT’s Autumn/Winter 2026 Collection Has Everything We Love About Getting Dressed in the Colder Months
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.