Miss Dior Chérie: Name and Fragrance Note

At a glance

Miss Dior Chérie is a Dior fragrance composed by Christine Nagel and launched in 2005 as an eau de parfum. It was a flanker to the 1947 Miss Dior, aimed at a younger customer, and it was built on strawberry, caramelized popcorn and patchouli.

It is not the 1947 chypre, and it is not quite the fragrance now sold as Miss Dior. In 2011 François Demachy reworked it, and the reworked version took over the plain Miss Dior name. Wikipedia and Perfume Shrine date the change to 2011, while Escentual says Chérie left the shelves under its old name in 2012.

Creation and context

Miss Dior Chérie was developed while John Galliano was Dior’s creative director. According to Wikipedia, Nagel’s brief was to create something “audacious, impertinent, and gourmand,” and Galliano called the result “delicious.” Fragrantica notes that the bottle was modelled on the 1947 Miss Dior flacon, so the new fragrance borrowed the old one’s look as well as its name.

The first face of the campaign was Riley Keough, Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, whom both Wikipedia and Fragrantica name. Natalie Portman took over in late 2010. Wikipedia says her films were directed by Sofia Coppola, and Escentual and Perfume Shrine both describe Portman as the face of the more grown-up image that came with the 2011 rework.

The formula did not belong to Dior. Wikipedia and The Scented Salamander, both citing a May 2011 Le Monde report, say Givaudan held the formula for Nagel’s creation until LVMH moved to take control of its perfume formulas. Demachy, appointed Dior’s in-house perfumer in 2006, made the changes that allowed Dior to take it over.

The composition

Dior has not published the formula. For the 2005 eau de parfum, Perfume Shrine, The Scented Salamander and Fragrantica all give the same structure.

Wikipedia notes that the patchouli fraction recalled Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle (2001), and cites Elle on its debt to Mugler’s Angel (1992). The result is a fruity floral with a candied, gourmand centre, built for a customer who would never have worn the 1947 chypre.

Why it matters

Miss Dior Chérie shows that a flanker can end up replacing the fragrance it was named after. Perfume Shrine says it outsold the original Miss Dior by a wide margin and gives that as the reason for the change. The 1947 fragrance was renamed Miss Dior Originale, a point Wikipedia and Escentual both confirm, and the Chérie line became the Miss Dior most shoppers now know. The Dior house page calls that decision the most criticized thing the house has done.

Samuel Sayre’s original entry here made the same point: shoppers often asked for “Miss Dior” when they meant Miss Dior Chérie, and he connected that confusion with the later renaming.

Reformulation and editions

Perfume Shrine records a reformulation of the eau de parfum around 2008, when the silver writing on the glass gave way to a white label, and another change in 2010. An eau de toilette followed: Perfume Shrine dates it to 2007 and says it was remade in 2010, while Wikipedia dates it to 2010. Miss Dior Chérie L’Eau (2009), signed by Demachy, is a separate fragrance.

The 2011 Demachy version changed the character substantially. Perfume Shrine and The Scented Salamander give it the same notes: citrus and mandarin, then Damascena rose and jasmine, then patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, moss and amber. Both say the strawberry jam and popcorn were watered down. The Scented Salamander found the 2011 Couture Edition closer to Nagel’s original. Wikipedia lists a further Miss Dior eau de parfum by Demachy in 2017, so current bottles are newer still.

Wearing it today

Nagel’s 2005 formula is available only on the secondary market. Look for the silver writing on the glass of the early eau de parfum, and expect jammy strawberry, a caramel-popcorn warmth and a clean patchouli drydown.

Anything labelled simply Miss Dior since the renaming is a later formula, and anything labelled Miss Dior Originale is the 1947 chypre. Check the date, the label and the juice colour before you buy or compare.

Related entries

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