Ralph Lauren has unveiled the promotional material for its newest fragrance, Notorious, staring one of my personal favorite models, Laetitia Casta.
The French beauty fronts the campaign which according to the release aims to embody the sexy, intriguing Notorious woman, whose image was inspired by the iconic actresses of the golden era of Hollywood film.
“Laetitia’s glamour, daring and powerful femininity make her the perfect face for this seductive fragrance,” says Guillaume de Lesquen, President, Worldwide, Ralph Lauren Fragrances. “She is classically beautiful, but lives her life in a completely modern way. Laetitia is Notorious.”
The print campaign was photographed by Michael Thompson where Casta is looking luxurious, seductive and every inch a classic Hollywood screen siren. The accompanying Notorious commercial film was directed by renowned Hong Kong-based filmmaker Wong Kar-wai, but it unfortunately features nothing more that Casta looking seductively at the camera, occasionally joined by a male model – watch it below then go behind the scenes
Notorious, created by perfumer Olivier Gillotin (the man behind Tom Ford Private Blend Tobacco Vanille, Balenciaga Cristobal women and Ermenegildo Zegna Z Zegna to name a few), is classified as an oriental scent with the main feature “a decadent, chocolate-scented burgundy flower exclusive to Ralph Lauren Fragrances” with notes of pink peppercorn, bergamot, blackcurrant, white frost peonies, vanilla and iris.
Interestingly enough Now Smell This calls this scent a “Fresh Cocoa Woods dryer sheets” scent.
I’d call it cushy-cozy-snuggly rather than sexy-glamorous-sophisticated, and there isn’t even the slightest air of mystery or intrigue about it. It’s hard to imagine Ingrid Bergman spritzing it on, and it certainly hasn’t got enough attitude to suit Lauren Bacall (or even the model in the print ad).
(With that kind of review in mind, it should be interesting to see what Gillotin has coming up for Ralph Lauren’s other upcoming fragrance, Ralph Wild, which he created with Jim Krivda.)
All fragrance reviews aside, I love that Laetitia Casta scored this campaign which see’s her channeling some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Perhaps even Yves Saint Laurent would be smiling from wherever he is, after all the model and designer were close friends and he dressed some of the women the promotional imagery is inspired by. Though it’s a convenient appointment since she has been an L’Oreal spokesperson since 1998 and Ralph Lauren fragrances are manufactured under license by the beauty giant.
Check out the commercial and behind the scenes video below:
Ralph Lauren Notorious commercial staring Laetitia Casta
Behind the scenes of the Notorious commercial
