Friday, May 22, 2009

"I do it for you, I do it for us": the Lady Noire affaire

Not strictly perfume related but I thought it was an exquisitely produced commercial bordering on proper art. The new film for Lady Dior, the famous handbag, popularised by Lady Diana Spencer, features Marion Cottilard incarnating a noire heroine out of a 40s film that includes tycoon husbands, unfaithful wives, villains in fedoras aplenty, abduction captives and the precious commodity: a black Lady Dior! Directed by Olivier Dahan (who rejoins Cottilard after La môme), the story is set to unfold in another 3 future instalments (Lady Rouge, for instance, is the next one), promising to shape up into a proper long feature!
Might I also comment on the fabulous makeup on Marion Cottilard?

Please watch the exclusively for the Web film following this Dior link.
(there is also a making-of behind the scents featurette)

Or here:



Too bad the Dior fragrances are going so downhill...

Clip originally uploaded on Youtube by coupsdepub

8 comments:

  1. Alexandra16:50

    Ohhh, don`t be so cruel with Dior. Midnight poison is a good one (and then Cherie and Co.- summer sisters are terrible, all right).
    Guerlain is going downhill more obviously. LVMH to blame????

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Alexandra and thanks for commenting!

    Yeah, I was a bit harsh but then again it is indeed LVMH which is to blame. Why do they cheapen the brands that make up their revered portfolio?
    I'm a little mad at Dior/LVMH right now because I noticed they have ~yet again!!~ reformulated their classics (Diorissimo, Diorella, Miss Dior); it's a very, very, very recent reformulation of the last couple of months and it's been done deviously optically, this is what I hinted at with my comment.
    Midnight Poison is not too bad, I just wish it were a little more original, some others in the market are smelling a bit like it?

    Feel free to comment more :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alexandra17:18

    I`ve bought a bottle of Diorissimo 6 months ago ( very light yellow fluid). Yesterday my friend tells me that her newly purchased bottle has dark yellow fluid. I`ll have to compare them.
    Many people also complain that Poison and Hypnotic poison are much weaker and smell worse than before.
    Never too much profit...
    You know, I don`t even get upset any more (untill someone ruins Femme Rochas, than I`ll go mad). I`ve discovered Parfum d`Empire and I don`t really need LVMH brands any more. But it`s sad and disrespectful to Mr. Dior.

    ReplyDelete
  4. There, you got it: "it's disrespectful to mr.Dior". Especially for the scents that were conceived in his lifetime (he passed away so quickly....)
    But in general it's a vulgarisation of quality.

    Yup, do compare Diorissimo. I just managed to salvage some more older juice to have as a comparison modus operandi against the very newest.

    It's sad they're watering down even newer frags such as Hypnotic Poison. A bestseller of theirs too, judging by sales here. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous19:45

    Hey, sorry for being a killjoy...but I watched it 5 times and I still don't get the plot. Mostly I find Cotillard's coy English a bit annoying and really wish that people would give her a French script instead--and her running sequence had me gasping (not the good ones I'm afraid).

    Don't get me wrong: I love the symbiotic relationship between film and fashion & love this particular idea--just wish there's better editing in both the writing and the post-production stages. Too bad but looking forward to the remaining three chapters though.

    ReplyDelete
  6. A,

    no problem, you're always free to express yourself here as you see fit :-)

    It has some plot holes, very true! They want to give it a Jules Dassin meets Godard kind of feel. Frenchified noir, so to speak! ;-)(then again French films are talk, talk, talk, so not much going on here, but anyway...)
    I wish they're shoot it in French as well. But it would not do. English is the esperando of today and the audiences aimed at very much in tune to that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Agree with the comments on the make up and the holes in the plot. I thought her shoes were outrageous! Beautiful but not meant for running - she should have broken an ankle. About halfway through the clip, I decided she would be wearing Dune. One of my favourites - a sad perfume, almost in mourning but beautiful in spite of that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. A,

    that's the beauty of films: noone sprains an ankle running on Manolos, LOL! (come to think of it, they're actually better than most high heels for running, but I digress).
    I LOVE Dune, it's so warm and deep and completely at odds with its advertising. I like the way you describe it!

    ReplyDelete

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