Orlando Bloom on being the face of Boss Orange Man & What Scents he Likes on Women

'I wasn't really a 'fragrance guy' before, but Boss Orange is so easy to wear. It adds another dimension to my personality', Orlando says. 'I wouldn't have done it if it didn't fit my personality; it's so easy going, you can go mountain biking in it if you want!'
Thus describes Orlando Bloom ~the popular actor famous for his role of Legolas in Lord of the Rings, the lead in Pirates of the Caribbean and not only~ the scent of Boss Orange (for) Man, to which he will be the face from now on.



Boss Orange for men, the March 17th edition which was signed by Orlando Bloom as seen below is a Selfridges exclusive for now in the UK, while the scent circulates more widely of course, featuring "energizing top notes of crisp apple blended with the casual masculinity of Bubinga wood that creates a relaxed confidence with a genuine warmth". The full list of notes features apple, coriander, frankincense, Szechuan pepper, vanilla bean, Bubingawood. (45 GBP for 100ml)



Even though Orlando Bloom wasn't big on the fragrance experience, he did profess a keen nose for other smells: "The [London] underground has a really 'specific' smell which I remember from travelling to school and college. I also love the smell of fresh cut grass in summer, it reminds me of Kent (where Orlando grew up) and cricket".
He also admits a liking for that hallmark of cinematic olfactory exploration, the screen adaptation of the 1980s novel Das Parfum, screened as Perfume, the Story of a murderer. 'I really like the film Perfume, it's really hard but they definitely captured the spirit. It would be great if, like 3D cinemas, they could add smell to films'. Way to go Orlando!

And what does the pretty Orlando prefer on a woman scent-wise? "I always like the smell of a woman, the neck, behind the ear; she can be wearing a fragrance or not. I don't like fragrances that wear a woman though". Ladies, you've been warned.

Source of quotes: Elle magazine interview Orlando Bloom picture via thecinemasource.com

First Look new Chanel Coco Mademoiselle ad: Keira Knightley in the Beige Catsuit

“It’s the first women’s perfume I’ve ever worn. Before that I’ve always worn men’s because [...] I want something that makes me feel, y'know, like I’m standing up straight” says Keira Knightley, spokeswoman for Coco Mademoiselle fragrance for Chanel. Liar....two times over.



Anyway, despite the discrepancy, Chanel continues the campaign with Keira this time in a beige catsuit riding a beige motorcycle in Place de la Concorde, Paris, shot on September 2010 by Joe Wright (the man who directed her previously in the commercials for Coco Mademoiselle but also in Pride & Prejudice).
Vogue TV has the interview with Keira (from which the quote above originates, alongside a further glimpse of part of the commercial which will air on March 23rd), we have the teaser below.




“Nobody said exactly what it was going to be like,” Knightley explains about the new campaign. “I knew that it was something about a motorbike, and I knew that it was going to be beige, and they said, ‘Sort of catsuit,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ It was completely unexpected. It’s a Chanel superwoman, I think.”




pics via sassiamblog.com & styleite.com

Megan Fox has a sexy secret Code in the works

It was just the other day that the thought of Megan Fox and perfume ads seemed too hot to handle (Actually it was a suggestion of my reader Barbara commenting on the latest Bvlgari ad with Kristen Dunst posted here). And now we find out that the foxy ms.Fox is starring at the latest Armani perfume commercial for Armani Code. Well, naturally! She was the body (and gorgeous face) of the Italian designer's underwear campaign. It was inevitable that such a contract couldn't be limited to that. Perfume advertising offers such tantalising opportunities for such hot & hip celebrities.

The fashion house describes the Armani Code scent as a "sexy, femme fatale kind of perfume—a woman's mysterious code of seduction revealed." And the ad campaign took the form of a story in which "a man and a woman are looking for something they cannot identify. Still, despite fighting attraction, they finally surrender to the power of seduction. The mystery deepens even more as the story stops somewhere since the two seem to vanish when their eyes meet.
However, a new chapter of the Code Saga will open and the intrigue will continue in the Armani Code Sport ads. This tells the story of the power of a man's body, magnetic as it moves under the surface of the luminous swimming pool at night, a woman waiting for a man. The two cannot escape as seduction is a danger that is worth it. " [source] May I say, yawn...haven't we seen this scenario a trillion times already?


Now that I see some of the first shots of said advertisements, I can't say I can muster much enthusiasm either. There's a hard & plastic quality in the fake fringed bob, a sort of aimless passivity on the part of the naked male, an atmosphere of risque sexual thriller of the early 1990s (I am waiting for either Sharon Stone or Melanie Griffith creeping out from the urban landscape behind the LA rooftop) and a general feeling of an opportunity missed...
What do you think?


ad photos via Gossipcop.com

Kirsten Dunst poses for Bvlgari, all feline-like and...in the buff

The newest Bulgari advertisements for Mon Jasmin Noir, a new flanker to the established Jasmin Noir feminine fragrance (which we have reviewed previously) feature Kristen Dunst. She's appearing uncharacteristically glamorised and with nothing more than a sheer scarf hiding her more private parts. Right beside...a lion! Bulgari is obviously taking a page from 50s Hollywood stars who used to parade with felines right and left as an extention of their "wild" nature. Let us remind you that Julianne Moore had also posed with lion cubs for the Bulgari campaign, just last autumn. There's definitely a theme...But whereas Julianne is credible (and looks sexy), this one seems stretched to its limits.
So, what do you think about Dunst's new ad? Good, bad or just plain laughable?



"Modernity and sensuality of this fragrance is achieved by blending notes of lily of the valley, Sambac jasmine, musky nougatine and vibrant woods". The perfumer of Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir is Olivier Polge. Out soon!

top pic via racked.com, bottom via farispashion blog

Natalie Portman in Miss Dior Cherie 2011 Commercial

The sighs of Jane Birkin under Serge Gainsbourg's classic (and racy) "Je t'Aime...moi non plus" song are accompanying a new sexy siren of the 2000s: Natalie Portman, the newest face for Miss Dior Chérie, again directed by Sofia Coppola (as reported previously)and a viable Oscar contestant for her performance in Black Swan. It's funny to contemplate that the previous music choice for Sofia's commercial a few years ago was a tune by Brigitte Bardot, the very person who first sang the controversial orgasmic song by Gainsbourg; that version was revoked by her husband Gunter Sachs nevertheless. Serge then turned to Jane Birkin to record it to the outcry of the Vatican and the song became immortal in that version.

Nowadays it doesn't sound half as controversial as it did, but is the new commercial for Dior really reflecting the free sprit of the 60s and early 70s in an age that is so conservative despite the bom-bom swaying in hip hop videos and the public display of intimate personal details? "I am the wave, you the naked island"? "I go and I come in between your loins"? I think not...
Apart from a little suggestive play with a tie (posing as both a blindfold and a sort of leash) you'll have to squint your mental muscles into perceiving any more sexual innuendo in the Natalie Portman commercia!. The video is more romantic cliche than racy, although it's certainly more man-to-woman interactive than the previous "I fell fine trailblazing across Paris by myself" commercial by Coppola.
Talk about Natalie Portman stripping for the spot only resulted in her vaguely beginning to remove a few clothes with no more titillation, unless a bath tub scene where she's immersed up to her neck wearing sunglasses is considered risque. It looks like a shot from "Garden State"really, maybe a tip of the hat from the director. Sofia Coppola however really knows how to direct the whole into making us want to douse ourselves in overpriced Eau. Taking in mind I have an aversion to the overly sweet character of the original Miss Dior Chérie (but I do like L'Eau version), I find this is quite a feat! What do you think?

NB. The commercials are set to accompany the latest reformulation of the Eau de Parfum by head Dior perfumer F.Demachy.

Cacharel Anais Anais: fragrance review & history

Who could imagine a block-buster perfume today being promoted through porcelain-skined beauties in soft focus showing no inch of skin beyond their necks set to pre-classical music? And yet Anais Anais, the first perfume by Cacharel (1978), was advertised exactly like that and became THE reference scent for the early 1980s for droves of young women who still reminiscence fondly of it 30 years later. It's also one of the most influential perfumes in history, at least on what concerns marketing success ~a triumph of Annette Louit~ and top-to-bottom design, if not complexity, quality materials or classicism of composition. It didn't possess any of the latter.

Yet it's still featured on the Cacharel website prominently and is up front on perfume counters. For many,
Anais Anais by Cacharel was the first fragrance they got as a gift; or even better the first they cashed out their pocket money for: Its image was youthful from the start. No doubt the deceptively innocent scent, coupled with the dreamy advertisements accounted for that, as did the opaline packaging with the pastel flowers on it and the slightly suggestive name. It was the debate of many, to this day: Was Anais Anais a reference to writer Anais Nin and her ~"forbidden" to the young~ erotic literature, such as Delta of Venus? Or was it a nod to the ancient Persian goddess Anaitis, goddess of fertility? And which was more provocative?

Cacharel was specializing in retro knits at the time and both references for the name were valid enough, although the company always officially went with the latter. The goddess was testament to a peculiar cultural phenomenon on what concerned the position of woman in the zeitgeist: On the one hand Anais Anais with its imagery disrupted the context of feminism in perfume; the complete antithesis of Charlie by Revlon (1973), if you will, where Shelley Hack was dressed in pants skipping off to work or grabbing the bum of a cute guy in the street as an outward manifestation of her desire to be divested of her traditional passive role. These were both youthful fragrances advertised to the young. So what had intervened in those 5 years elapsing to account for such a change? Nothing much. (If you exclude the rush of spicy orientals in the market in the wake of Opium's success). The French aesthetic was always more traditionally feminine than the American one, going for Venus over Diana, and the marketeers soon realized that the beauty industry can't disregard the changes of times, but deep down, it will always depend on the passivity of the consumer into buying "hope in a jar". Perfume is perhaps the most mysterious of all beauty products, ladden with hundreds associations and legion aspirations. It was deemed best to start bouncing the ball back right away... Plus the youth market hadn't been exploited sufficiently (this was back in the 1970s remember) and someone had perceived that the young regarded standard perfume imagery as bourgeois and old-fashioned: they needed their own. Cacharel was extra attentive to grow the market; they put basins in department stores where they encouraged young women to plunge their hands in basins of water, dry them, apply scented cream on them and then finishing off with a spritz of Anais Anais, extoling the virtues of "layering" for a lasting effect. A youth phenomenon was at work.


And Sarah Moon was called for the Anais Anais advertisements: To take shots of women as pale-limped and virginaly innocent as paintings, lily-like, exactly like the opaline bottle and the main core of the fragrance which was built on lilies of the fields. The long limps gained an almost Piero Della Francesca sanctity, the doe-eyed gazes were soft and narcotized, almost. Were they beckoning unto the males watching, inviting by their easy-to -prey-on-passivity and odalisque-style harem numbers? Or were they nuzzling on each other evoking lesbian fantasies? Perhaps the most provocative thing is that the ladies in question all appeared so very.. young; almost under-age! Whatever the intention, the imagery is still memorable: It marks a mental no-mands-land between the advent of feminism in advertising and the regression to conservative values of the 1990s, peppered with some of the issues that still concern those of us who immerse themselves in beauty advertising with a critical eye.

Four perfumers were credited with the creation of Anais Anais jus: Paul Leger, Raymond Chaillan, Roger Pellegrino and Robert Gonnon, working at Firmenich. A surprising fact as the formula isn't complicated or challenging really. The opening is fresh and a little "screechy", a touch
of green galbanum resin felt all the way through the base (galbanum is in fact a base note but it's felt at the top), giving a herbaceous overture that segues into the main attraction: lily of the valley forms the core coupled with another "clean" note, that of orange blossom, sanctified through the wonders of analytical chemistry. White lilies melt as if gaining human form, tender, devoid of their customary spiciness and given a touch of woody dryness. There is a supporting accord of honeysuckle, jasmine and rose, played sourdine; it's not especially felt. The permeating cleanness continues for long before a hint of playful soft leather in the base surfaces alongside indeterminate, powdered woods to give an intriguing twist to the plot: is this an autumnal scent for more mature women, I wonder?
Although I seem to recall the scent of Anais Anais as a little bit more "substantial" in all its softness, there is no major change in its formula last I compared batches, probably because there is not much of allergens-suspect ingredients necessitating restrictions and because hydrocitronellal (lotv note) has been successfuly substituted anyway. It's a pity the parfum concentration has been extinct for some years now, as it played up the autumnal basenotes beautifully.

Notes for Cacharel Anais Anais
Top: Bergamot, galbanum, hyacinth, honeysuckle, orange blossom
Middle: Lily, lily of the valley, rose, ylang-ylang, tuberose, carnation
Base: Cedarwood, sandalwood, amber, oakmoss, incense, vetiver




Sarah Moon photography via weheartit.com and thefashionspot.com

Natalie Portman: new face for parfums Dior

Natalie Portman had signed a beauty endorsement deal as the new face for Dior, as far back as June 2010. The talented and beautiful young actress who announced just two days ago, on Monday 27th, that she's been engaged and is happily pregnant, has starred in such box-office hits as Star Wars as well as critically aclaimed films such as Closer and Black Swan. Good coup, Dior, as Natalie is so famous as to even have an MP3 download on Amazon titled "Natalie Portman Poops" (I kid you not! )
Christian Dior chief Claude Martinez called Natalie “charismatic and elegant.” The actress, on the other hand, who hasn't worked in the beauty business before, says: “I’m pretty casual in my beauty routine in my real life. Some might say sloppy.” She also regards beauty, for which she's often justifiably praised, as an obstacle or annoyance: “Beauty can be a hindrance, especially if that’s the only thing that matters to other people. I’m also aware that being considered attractive can be a huge factor in getting work in my profession. Beauty can be boring if you’re with a guy who is focused on his looks or your looks all the time. I know a lot of male actors who are totally obsessed with creating a certain look.” [source of quotes]



Her presence in the Dior portfolio will involve her fronting the new perfume campaign, substituting model Maryna Linchuk, for Miss Dior Chérie. The new commercial will again be directed by Sofia Coppola (see the on-the-set shot above), after the very successful clip she had shot with Maryna 3 years ago. It coincides beautifully with the reopening celebration of Dior’s 57th Street boutique in N.Y.C., where Portman appeared to celebrate alongside Dior’s head designer John Galliano.
The print campaign was shot by Tim Walker while Sofia Coppola directs the TV ads. The advertisements will see the sultry star, who's 29, with a hunky young model, appearing in glossies and on screens in March 2011. “I felt like a big old cougar. He’s, like, 20. The commercial is subliminal advertising for my film,” Portman quipped, as it features a shot of a white swan. If one feels that way at 29, though, just imagine...

We're very much looking forward to them all the same!

photos via fashion style and stylefrizz.

Chanel No.19 Eau de Parfum Lands Stateside

The elusive concentration of the venerable Chanel No.19 perfume, the Eau de Parfum, had been widely available in Europe for years now, but for some unfathomable reason escaped regular Chanel perfume counters in the US. The Eau de Parfum is a different animal than the Eau de Toilette and parfum versions, displaying a distinct rosiness which pairs with the vetiver in a novel way and has a smoother leather note. Now our American friends can stock up, as the Eau de Parfum of No.19 and some body products in the range (bath gel and deodorant) arrive at the online venue of Chanel, their official site on this link. Alongside some masculine Antaeus ancillary products, a No.5 Eau Premiere coffret and some makeup products.

Careful though: the No.19 Eau de Parfum is marked as a limited edition! (Which probably means you won't get a second chance anytime soon)
Complimentary standard shipping through midnight December 16th EST applies on the official site.

Read our review of Chanel No.19 and of Chanel Antaeus on these links. And watch some retro commercials of Chanel No.19 below.

Optical Scentsibilities: For External Use Only

Perfume can be delicious to the point of wanting to drink it. Or so would the perfume industry want us to believe. Recently the ad material of Romano Ricci's Not a Perfume by his niche line Juliette has a Gun introduced a visual that is fitting that concept; and it fits the anti-perfume name as well of course! One could say it is its whole raison d'être. (What's up with anti-perfumes lately, haven't Lutens and Geza Schoen exhausted the experiment yet?) We will come on board on our next post with a review on the unreleased yet Not a Perfume and a lucky draw for a decant, but in the meantime, the image reminded me of something.
Something which was so memorable (and so innovative at the time) that has stuck... Can you see the similarities?



The perfume ad above is for Franco Moschino's original eponymous Moschino perfume from the 1980s. (Incidentally, good juice!)


pics via the moodie report and parfums de pub

Christy Turlington: new face for Avon

Supermodel of the 90s and successful business-woman Christy Turlington has signed up with cosmetics giant Avon to appear in their new fragrance Slip Into (Avon, that is), according to WWD.


Even though the phrase is usually used to denote something comfortable (and slinky), the new fragrance is supposedly seeking "to capture the transformative power of stepping into a high-heel shoe" (Why not just don the darn thing already?). Avon VP Vanessa Reggiardo explained, “The idea of transformation is a very exciting one. It’s really about that moment of slipping out of flats into high heels — that act that makes women feel more confident, more sexy and more sophisticated.” Christy added, “I can really admire [high heels] because I don’t wear them too often. I’m not one of the moms who wears heels when dropping the kids at school.” [source] The super-mom is notoriously dismissive of all the accoutrements of her profession and the fake "glamour" it perpetuates, especially as she emerged herself in the No Woman, No Cry documentary: "There's nothing rewarding about modeling. It was a fun opportunity that allowed me to see the world, but spiritually and intellectually there is nothing rewarding about the profession at all." [source]

Interestingly, there is a divide on the name: The fragrance will launch in Europe as Slip Into in January 2011, and roll out to Latin America in March 2011 under the name Step Sexy. It’s slated to hit North America as Step Into Sexy in October 2011, pushed aiming at the holiday selling season. There is a difference in pricing and concentration though: This Avon fragrance will be available globally as a 50ml. eau de toilette for $22.50 and in North America as an eau de parfum for $28.
As to the scent it's purported to be "an oriental floral by IFF, has top notes of blackberry, freesia and violet leaf; a heart of rosewood, violet and butterfly orchid, and a drydown of Cashmeran, sueded orris root and golden ambers. The bottle is inspired by the curve of a women’s calf as she slips into a high heel. " [source]

pic via jezebel

New Dior Homme Commercial Directed by Guy Richie

The new Dior Homme commercial titled Un Rendez-Vous stars suave Jude Law engaged in ~apparently~ some role-playing sex game with a girlfriend (introducing Slovak model Michaela Kocianova who has a ridiculously predictable thick accent and sounds like Elmer Fudd!). The news is it's been directed by acclaimed British director and ex-Madonna-spouse Guy Ritchie. “You know who I am,” Law growls as Michaela Kocianova helps him slip into his pants, obviously made at the Dior ateliers. “I know who you are. You know where I’ve been. I know where you’ve been….” The dialogue is left at that (it's sounding all too repetitive or is it just me?)— and it’s never quite clear who Law is talking to. Then Law jumps into a vintage car and speeds off to the Eifel Tower. Nice touch to have the girl wearing his cologne, Dior Homme is great on women's skin too! (Have been enjoying it myself)



Greaaaaat, now what do YOU think? I'm a little stumped myself (Isn't it a little confusing? There's some back and forth between past and present all while they're talking on the phone). I like Guy Ritchie's cinematic work on the whole.
And what's that with famous cinematic directors reprising commercials for perfumes lately? (see Scorcese and Chanel Bleu)

More reading about the Ritchie-Dior film: Whiteblog.net

clip brought to my attention via popwatch

Comme des Garcons Wonderwood: new fragrance & short film

The new fragrance by Comme des Garçons is called Wonderwood and focuses of course on...woods! The unisex fragrance is acompanied by a short film shot by the Quay Brothers who are highly renowned for their stop motion filming technique. The story involves a man for whom the love of trees simply cannot be put into words. The edgy video has been uploaded on Youtube where you can watch it with ease (the video had debuted exclusively at Love Magazine UK). The video medium is fast becoming the new vehicle through which top brands choose to promote their products, often assisted by artistic direction by top creators.

Penelope Cruz for Lancome Tresor

Lancôme has signed Penélope Cruz , as the brand's third superstar spokesmodel, along with Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet. According to the official Lancôme blog she "will be the ambassador of Trésor, our iconic fragrance".
This piece of news at first surprised me, as it was so recently that we had raved about the choice of Kate Winslet for the 1990-launched classic of the house. I believed it would have been for another fragrance, probably the not so pushed Miracle Forever, previously fronted by Shalom Harlow. But no, after all, you can't get more official than the company's own blog, these days!


The new Trésor ads were shot in Paris starting April 29th with Mario Testino (and coinciding with her 36th birthday) and they will debut sometime this autumn. As you can see from the pics, Cruz is wearing an elegant one-shouldered black dress standing on the balcony at the Hotel Crillon.
The brand already has an all-star cast, with Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Daria Werbowy, Ines Sastre, Arlenis Sosa and Elettra Wiedemannm alongside Sandy Linter and Michelle Phan. The Spanish-born actress is now joining them. Muy caliente!

Photo credits: KCSPresse/Splash News Online, Popsop.com

New face for Cerruti 1881 for Men

The emblematic for the house of Cerruti fragrance Cerruti 1881 for Men (the date denoting the founding of the house of Cerruti) is set for a new advertising campaign starting June 2010 sponsored by the licencee Coty with a new, untarnished face that has never before been associated with beauty or perfumes: Marc Lavoine. The French singer and actor was established in 1985 when his pop sensation "Elle a les yeux revolver" (i.e. She has killer eyes) with its Far East instrumental passages made it to the Top 4 of the French charts ~staying in the top 10 for 13 weeks~ and thus catapulting his career. The pulling traits that got him chosen? "His allure, his gaze and his voice which lend him an undeniable magnetism; an accompished and authentic man". (Quote according to the International senior vice president of marketing of the European licences of Coty Prestige). Marc is reportedly flattered to be participating, fronting such a masculine standby from 1990. Marc has aged in an appealing way, foregoing the too cute hair of the 80s, so who's to argue?

May I just ask whether this is a return to more traditional masculine prototypes, away from the metrosexual images of recent? Could this be -coupled with Dior's decision to utilize Alain Delon's classic 60s photo for Eau Sauvage- a new welcome trend? I'm crossing my fingers.



Photo collage of Marc Lavoine with Cerruti cologne bottle by Perfumeshrine

It's in the Air...

One of the most classic fragrances, selling one bottle every minute someplace in the world, is L'Air du Temps by Nina Ricci. Even if it's characteristic, immediately recognisable piquancy of spicy floral has been somewhat dimmed over the decades since its introduction in 1948 due to reformulations, the romantic ideal on which it was introduced to the world ~its doves bringing peace and serenity~ has not. Here are some of my favourite commercials and advertisements which have graced its fragrant trail over the years: From the masterful clip that recalls Hieronymus Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delight" to more nostalgic ones ("c'est une vie enchantée", it's an enchanted life). And from the 1993 graphic arrow-shot bottles by Enrique Badulescu from 1993 through to the Jean Baptiste Mondino ones at the subway from the late 1990s. The bottom line is what the lovely soft-focus ads from the 70s by David Hamilton proclaim: "'Un parfum doit être source de rêve." A perfume should work as a source of dreams...








Which one is your favourite?

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Fragrant Advertising articles

Optical Scentsibilities: Beyonce chanelling Cindy Crawford?

Beyonce is directed into emulating Cindy Crawford (and a crop of other top models who appeared in George Michael's Freedom along with the heat and fire visuals) in this commercial for her first celebrity fragrance, Heat by Beyonce.
Compare with the original video-clip below (especially around 2:58 and onwards) and...go have a lie down.

New Chanel Ad Filmed by Martin Scorcese

Apparently the film maverick is joining forces with the prestigious fashion and beauty firm for one of their upcoming commercials. Chanel has a great tradition to upkeep anyway and their latest commercials have been stellar one way or another, be it the operatically self-parodying of No.5 with Nicole Kidman by Baz Lurhman, the sophisticated Parisian burglar in Coco Mademoiselle with Keira Knightley or the romantic aboard-the-Orient-Express with Audrey Tautou filmed by Jean-Pierre Jenet for No.5 again. (No.5 being the test by fire for the brand).

Latest reportage states that "David Lynch is confirmed to have filmed an installment of Dior's string of commercials featuring ambassador Marion Cotillard in Shanghai, and now it's confirmed that as rumored, Martin Scorsese is working with Chanel. The director shut down a section of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York last Friday, and the owner of Moto, a restaurant in the area, confirmed Scorsese was filming a Chanel commercial" according to Fashionologie, who took the information from first-hand witness Jeni Avins who took some photos for Dossier (click to see the location shots). The über-hipster (and über-Chasid) Williamsburg is an unusual locale, but who knows New York better than Scorcese? (Woody Allen comes to mind, but I haven't heard of Chanel banging down on his door yet).
Chic Report adds that French actor Gaspard Ulliel (appearing at the Chanel Fall 2009 RTW show in Paris last March) and Canadian model Ingrid Schram are starring in the production as well. Scenes have also been shot underground in the midtown Manhattan subway (this theme reminds me of Berlin-set Prada's commercial to the lines of Thunder Perfect Mind by Jordan Scott, Ridley's daughter; her father incidentally has been the directot of some of the most imaginative Chanel commercials to date).

There is no indication which scent the commercial targets, although a source tells me it's about No.5 (in which case it would again involve Audrey Tautou, hot on the heels of her Mademoiselle impersonation in Coco Avant Chanel). Then again, isn't there some incosistency between the Jenet outlook and Scorcese's one? By the time it rolls out (around the end of the year, we will know).

EDIT TO ADD: As of Februrary 18th, according to WWD, the Scorcese advertisement is for the new Chanel fragrance for men! Will update with further info as it becomes available.
According to Magali Bertin from French Vogue, the fragrance is called Chanel Pour Homme. Here I'm a little stumped: Is it a new fragrance substituting the old, classic Chanel pour Homme (Chanel For Men, in the US) or does it mean it's a revamping of the classic through a new advertising? The former is rather more probable in view of perfumery restrictions. Andrea D'Avack, president of Parfum et Beauté at Chanel doesn't give any more info for now. And do bear in mind that the next Chanel according to the trademarks issued is -as we had predicted back in August 2008- called Bleu de Chanel (which might be marketed to men but is very improbable to have been budgeted for a big commercial by Scorcese).
We'll see in September when the commercial will hit our screens, I guess.

Kim Kardashian: the "Voluptuous" New Ad

After bootylicious star Beyonce with her Heat, another celebrity (albeit famous for less creative endeavours) debuts her eponymous celebrity fragrance (will there be no end?), named after her: Kim Kardashian and developed by Lighthouse Beauty. Between that and Carl's Jr salads commercials, the starlet famous for her Keeping up with the Kardashians participation hasn't been idle.

The advertisment has the booylicious Kim dressed in vintage pink lingerie (the push-up bra being a little too modern maybe) and a marabou coat, swinging from a circle-trapeze burlesque-style. I personally think her best feature (her warm softness) is traded for some "hardened" glam-shot in which her face appears a little too austere, perhaps in an effort to lend some retro high-cheekbones and dark-lips-on-white-canvas drama. The trapeze mirrors the smoky bottle ~with some necessary pink on the neck, let's not forget~ bearing her initials; one K mirrored-into the other like the two faces of Janus. On a sidenote, funny how all the Kardashian sisters have names starting with a K! It would be hard to position themselves if they all started producing their own fragrances, but anyway.
Kim Kardashian the fragrance could have been a bootichouli: After all, who better nowadays than realistically curvaceous women to bring back those unabashedly feminine compositions. But no, it will be a white floral instead (yawn?) with a sensual soft base, encompassing jasmine, tuberose and gardenia at the heart and tonka bean coupled with sandalwood for the base. Sounds rather nice, if a little "been there, done that", no? Prices will start from super-affordable $16 for a 0.33-oz. rollerball and up to $65 for a 3.4-oz. spray bottle. The Kim Kardashian fragrance debuts in February, exclusively at Sephora.

What do you think about the advertisement?

Pic courtesy of Stylewatch.

Flou artistique: new ad for Chanel No.5 with Audrey Tautou

The new print ads for Chanel No.5 with its latest face are starting to spread over the glossies. Audrey Tautou, the French actress who stars as the young Gabrielle Chanel herself in the film "Coco before Chanel", of which we talked in detail here, divulged: “The feature film enabled me to learn a lot more about Coco Chanel. She was an innovator, ahead of her era. The fact that she created a fragrance in the 1920s that could just as easily have been created yesterday reflects the standard of excellence that applied to everything she did in her life. By playing Coco and getting to know her, I understood, even more, just how unique N°5 really is.”

The film commercial for No.5 with Tautou has been a resounding success ( Watch it here if you haven't yet). Can the new print ad compete with the previous representations? It all depends...

In discussing the visual style of the advertisement with my collaborator AlbertCan, we zeroed in the shots of Krzysztof Kieslowski's flou artistique in "La double vie de Veronique" (1991). The other references are there too if we take into consideration the commercial for No.5: The window pane, the missing element, the deja vu impressions, even the beauty ideal that Audrey Tautou and Irène Jacob both represent (not implying they're doppelgänger): elfin, dark, delicate but thoughtful. After all, as I had written in the past (scroll for "Perfumes in Dialogue with One Another"), there is a thing called intertextuality, which is none the less brightly running through the course of perfumery and the visual arts that accompany it.

The focal point in La double vie de Veronique was the existential question of free will or fate. Without resorting to such elaborate and antithetical to the premise of luxurious abandon that perfume should evoke, isn't Chanel No.5 winking at us through its commercials and advertisments, as well as their egeries, that there is a reason behind every choice we make and the choice has but one name, that of Chanel?

Audrey Tautou redefines the new path that the Chanel No.5 woman is travelling, a younger, less haute and less poised one ~away from the couture of Kidman or the world-wise beauty of Deneuve. Alone, with the inner reflection of herself, a point of departure for a journey to the inner side, the one which wants to be reunited with the past and the future. Her eyes, looking at us through the hazy contours of the window reflection, seem to speak to us of the above. The luxury we have come to expect from Chanel is there, in the form of the diamond starfish hanging from Audrey's neck, but her tousled hair, the emblematic little black dress taking an almost casual air on her and her expressive mien, speak of an effort on the part of the new direction of Chanel to speak in a language that is audible to a new clientele. This new introspection is the reflexes of a quick-pulsed team who monitor the recessive perfume market and are replying by a more modest but perhaps also more esoteric approach to the visualisation of what in essence is but a dream...that of perfume!
And perhaps to further the thought that cinematically started my musings "Each of us is matched somewhere in the world, by our exact double - someone who shares our thoughts and dreams". Perhaps one of you is that someone who shares those thoughts and dreams through No.5?

Pics frill.com and thestylophile.blogspot.com

Enrique Iglesias for Azzaro Homme: new face, new campaign

Azzaro pour Homme, the fougere classic from 1978 is gaining a new spin, that of the seducteur (a womaniser), in the face of Enrique Iglesias (full name Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler).

The son of Spanish legend Julio Iglesias is a singing star in his own right: Recognised at numerous awards (including Grammys, American Music Awards and the 2008 NRJ Music Award for Best International Masculine Artist) the top-selling Spanish-speaking singer worldwide according to data as of this minute, Enrique is successful, handsome and the "exotic" yet approachable type that would have consumers sit up and take notice. Enrique Inglesias's own track record is impressive with liaisons with Sofia Vergara, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shannon Elizabeth, Samantha Torres, and the ex Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

The press release is quite clear-cut into what they are aiming at: "It takes a certain kind of man to personify the distinctive style of this iconic fragrance: the eternal charmer, a man who loves and respects women. The proverbial "tall, dark and handsome"… good looks, unmistakable, innate sensuality, a magnetic personality and energy… "

Enrique is all that and we're elated he isn't lending his pretty mug for a celebrity scent now. His previous take on celebrity endorsement included a stint for Tommy Hilfiger's True Star (Refresh your memory with this). Under the auspices of Michel Mallard, Artistic Director of the new Azzaro pour Homme campaign, and with Steven Klein behind the lens at the Pier 59 Studios in NYC, the fragrance which was previously positioned as the professional type of the 80s overachiever is coming into a new image.

The new campaign for Azzaro pour Homme is set to roll this coming October and looks like it will entice a younger wave of wannabe "Latin lovers" into trying this woody classic. Good job, Azzaro team!