Everywhere you look, Timothée Chalamet’s face is staring back at you. That's just how it goes when a handsome, arthouse-accredited A-lister enters their imperial phase, commanding a legion of devoted fans who care more about the particulars of his curl pattern than his next acting role. Well, get ready to see even more of him, because the Call Me By Your Name star has just been announced as the newest ambassador for Chanel’s fragrance, Bleu De Chanel.
The news, while hardly surprising – attractive young man fronts perfume campaign, shocker! – is the first foray into ambassadorship for the 27-year-old. He takes over from the late French actor Gaspard Ulliel, who was the much-adored face of the fragrance for twelve years before his tragic passing in 2022. Now, the brand says that Chalamet is the next embodiment of the “visionary and edgy spirit of the next chapter of Bleu De Chanel: a man who does not limit himself to the ordinary boundaries life sets and looks beyond what is visible.”
There’s no doubt that the news will have appeared on your Instagram feed well before reading this, which in part explains why the esteemed fashion house has opted for Mr C. But it also feels like a nod back to the very Hollywood days of aspirational advertising in the Noughties, where you were but one spritz away from transforming into the A-lister the campaign suggests you could be. We're talking about the likes of Jude Law for Dior Homme, Josh Hartnett for Emporio Armani and Matthew McConaughey for Dolce & Gabbana, amongst others. Male models have been making hay, but maybe the age of aspirational celebrity advertising is set to return?
Chanel BLEU DE CHANEL Eau De Toilette Spray 50ml
Chanel BLEU DE CHANEL Eau De Toilette Spray 50ml
While the pool of handsome, hypey actors has by no means slimmed down, there have been less of them fronting campaigns over the past decade. Adam Driver is an exception: the Girls star made a ruckus online when he appeared in the TV ad for Burberry’s Hero fragrance, morphing from a man into a centaur in a matter of minutes. Twitter was sent into a frenzy, half confused as to why he would walk into the sea in jeans and half trying to track down his workout routine. Will we see something with as much beastly viral potential from the Chanel campaign, set to launch in June? Probably not. In true Chalamet style, perhaps he simply needs to embody a nice-smelling, nice-looking... well, nice guy, human legs intact. You know, the kind of person who'll dutifully get the next round in without a nudge, and will lend you a spritz when you need it most. Maybe that’s the aspirational icon we deserve right now.
