Discover the town behind the world's most famous perfume

60 Minutes - Newsmakers Discover Grasse, the flower-filled French town behind the world's most famous perfume .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-60-minutes.jpg'); } By Cecilia Vega, Cecilia Vega 60 Minutes Correspondent Cecilia Vega is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and "60 Minutes" correspondent who joined the CBS newsmagazine in 2023. Read Full Bio Cecilia Vega, Natalie Jimenez Peel, Mirella Brussani May 3, 2026 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google In 15th-century France, the medieval town of Grasse had a problem. It reeked of dead animals from its booming leather trade.Then came a clever idea to mask the stench: a pair of gloves infused with the scent of local flowers. It sparked a new industry. Flowers were planted; techniques invented. And what began as a cover-up grew into an art form, establishing Grasse as the perfume capital of the world.In 1921, when Coco Chanel wanted to create a signature scent for her fashion house, she went to this town in the south of France, where fields once bloomed in abundance, but have faded over the decades.Now, a revival is underway, and that's where our story begins tonight, in Grasse, where flowers for the world's most famous perfume have been grown and gathered for more than 100 years. This is the Rose Centifolia – nicknamed the May Rose – because it blooms in spring.Cultivated in row after pink row, it is a flower worthy of a serenade. Piano notes play over speakers – farmers say the vibrations help the buds bloom evenly. Twelve of these roses go into a bottle of Chanel No. 5. But the real star is this tiny, white flower: jasmine. It opens at night and is harvested as the sun comes up. One thousand jasmine flowers go into a bottle of No. 5, giving it the floral scent that has sat on grandmothers' dressers for generations.  Olivier Polge: We all have a great nose.Cecilia Vega: I don't know about that. Cecilia Vega and Olivier Polge 60...