A short film for Ralph Lauren Notorious. With model Laetitia Casta, directed by Wong Kar-Wai (who also did the wonderful spot for Dior Midnight Poison).
The post title comes from the now-obligatory "making of" video, which you can see here (link no longer working, sorry).
The film is really, uh, packaged glam…At least Laetitia looks good. (Wasn't she once voted as the one-time face of “Marianne”?) An gorgeous model right from the pages of Victoria's Secret – so sexy, so safe for the American audience… Maybe Notorious is “safe noir”….I recently tested Notorious, and while it's nice, it's more likely to be the next best frag of some sorority house, than a blazing hot leaving/meeting your lover in Paris frag. Notorious doesn't quite match the noir vibe their pushing. I think Madonna would have been an interesting choice as the face….At least she's someone you know walked the walk, whether or not the frag matches the image.
Just one more thing….Notorious should have a different name, and it should have been marketed more in the traditional Ralph Lauren – gorgeous upper crust American outdoorsy wooly sportswear driving in my fab convertible to my house in the Adirondacks – Vale – Tahoe, kind of fragrance. It's a good scent, just not noir. Ralph Lauren taking a solid woody frag back to “glamorous” nature as only he can/could. Now I'd see it's dark sexi-ness as a gorgeous woman (ok – Laetitia) in a cashmere robe laying in front of a big roaring fire…..
Totally agree — not a bad scent, but not what it's trying to be.
This ad didn't capture my imagination as much as the Dior one w/ Eva Green. I want to be Eva Green, not Laetitia Casta, apparently 🙂
Hey, Madonna would have been interesting, you're right. Probably too expensive though!