Kate Moss is the face of Yves Saint Laurent's new fragrance, Parisienne, which will be launched this summer.
"You don't have to be born in Paris to be Parisienne," explained Renaud de Lesquen, president of YSL Beaute, part of L'Oreal's luxury division.
"It's a state of mind," continued Nathalie Duran, YSL Beaute's deputy managing director.
To underscore that point, Brit Kate Moss was chosen to bring her brand of je ne sais quoi to the Parisienne scent's advertising campaign. In the still shot by Craig McDean, she stands on a Parisian bridge at dawn with the Eiffel Tower silhouetted in the background.
"Kate Moss is not afraid to live and to love," said Duran, adding she is emblematic of the spirit of carpe diem threading throughout the entire project. "She's really the definition of the particular woman we wanted."
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It's considered by the executives to be a totally new story, one told most graphically and erotically through the ad's film version, shot by Fabien Baron, which recounts the story of a woman (Moss) leaving an apartment in Paris' early morning hours.
"She has taken a rose and by smelling and playing with the flower, she remembers the night of love she has just had a few hours before," said Duran.
Yves Saint Laurent launched the fragrance Paris in 1983 and certainly Parisienne is a nod to that still popular fragrance. As for the ad film, it sounds very French.