Ushering in a brand new era of Bleu De Chanel, Timothée Chalamet stars in Martin Scorsese’s latest campaign for the house and its iconic men’s fragrance.
Known for his work on Wolf of Wall Street, GoodFellas, Uncut Gems, Taxi Driver, The Departed, The Irishman, the upcoming Killers of The Flower Moon and more, the Oscar Award winning American film director first lent his deft hand to Bleu De Chanel for its debut campaign in 2010, a wildly intense fashion narrative that channelled the director’s creative genius into a 60 second film noir starring Gaspard Ulliel.
Now, working with Chalamet for the first time ever, he set out to portray the many facets of a man who is forging his own path in the maelstrom of stardom. The film takes the original idea of Bleu de Chanel from 2010 and brings it up to date for the current state of celebrity culture. “The world has changed. There’s another aspect to celebrity in a way. Which is even more extreme than 10 or 15 years ago,” the director comments. A story of self-discovery, Scorsese explores the “delicate ambivalence between the overexposure that comes with fame, which causes the actor to live a scripted version of his life, and his profound desire to seek authenticity in his craft.” After it was announced in May that Chalamet would be the ambassador of the house fragrance (with a series of images by Mario Sorrenti), the 27-year-old actor has gracefully stepped into the candid role, specifically written for him.
Slowly emerging from the shadows to the haunting sound of The Moody Blues’ ‘Nights in White Satin’, Chalamet sets off to find himself, adhering to his instincts in a world where the shining lights of fame tend to blind us to reality. Lensed in black and white like an Old Hollywood feature, the duality between the character’s celebrity persona and his dark side – his public and private personas – is depicted. Lashes of charismatic, technicolour blue symbolise hope and provide glimmers of optimism under the unrelenting callousness of the public eye. In the final scene, bathed in blue, Chalamet’s character comes face-to-face with his inner truth, his soul self, his authentic being, illustrating the campaign’s message: “Find your blue, find yourself.”
Filmed across various New York City locations, Scorsese was inspired by the magnetic pull and timeless spirit of the scent, its fresh, woody aroma, when directing his vision of determined self-discovery. “Bleu De Chanel has just the right amount of conviction and intensity to represent a man who refuses to be typecast,” says Olivier Polge, Chanel’s in-house perfumer-creator. “A man who dismisses facades and who is not afraid to let vulnerability show through his tough, disarming exterior.”
Described by the house as “a fragrance for the man who is deeply himself”, Bleu De Chanel opens with bright citrus notes of lemon rind and bergamot and rounds out with rich notes of cedar and sandalwood.
Keep your eyes peeled for the film dropping October 16 and shop Bleu De Chanel here.
Photography courtesy of Chanel.
