Melanie Thierry Stars In YSL Ad

Mélanie Thierry, the face of Yves Saint Laurent’s new fragrance Belle d’Opium, is to star in a new work by international dancer and choreographer, Akram Khan for the advertising film.  The new advert will start to air in the UK from the weekend of 25 September 2010.

The dance is a sensual creation to bring alive today the mythic and fatal dance of Salome. It features the woman as the source of addiction, showing what the viewer rarely sees: the texture of the skin, the breath, the tension.  The film is directed by Romain Gavras. His incisive camera transcends the troubling femininity of the actress, oscillating constantly between childlike fragility and immense determination, control and abandon.  Music for the new work is composed by Nitin Sawhney. Photography by Mert & Marcus.

Akram Khan is one of most acclaimed choreographers of his generation working in Britain today.   His work and creative collaborations with the world’s leading brands and performers journey across boundaries to create uncompromising artistic narratives for the international stage.  Rooted in classical Kathak and modern dance training, Khan's evolving to communicate ideas that are intelligent, courageous and new.   Previous collaborators include international tours with Oscar winning actress, Juliette Binoche, Anish Kapoor, Sylvie Guillem, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Hanif Kureishi and Kylie Minogue.

The international launch of the perfume took place in New York City on 17 June. The party was attended by 140 international journalists and 300 celebrities, among them Alexa Chung, Ashley Olsen, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Olivier Martinez, and Whitney Port.

Renaud de Lesquen, Président of YSL Beauté said: "Akram is a classicist and a modernist, with an international reputation for powerful and profoundly moving work.  His original creation for Belle d’Opium is remarkable as he successfully captured and expressed in his own language the emotion we wished to express with this fragrance: a woman who becomes an obsession: moving, incandescent, vertiginous, intoxicating."

Mélanie Thierry said:  "For Belle d’Opium, I tried to express a power that was docile and feline at once, a total release, close to enchantment. Something extreme. In doing it I really felt that I was part of a project that is out of the ordinary."

Akram Khan said: "This project is inspired by the concept of taking away excessive movement, about focusing on the breath and the movement of the breath, the most simple things, the most profound things, the movement of the wrist, the movement of the eyes, the movement of the neck. It’s about peeling away the superficial things and going down to the essence."

Farooq Chaudhry, producer, Akram Khann Company, said:  "Akram Khan Company believes in the power of collaboration, out of these partnerships comes new and exciting work and we’re proud to have been able to work with an iconic brand such as Yves Saint Laurent."

Honorine Blanc, Perfumer, Yves Saint Laurent, said:  "This perfume, which I am very attached to, represents for me a new sensuality, feminine and mysterious. The smooth tension between the noble base elements with the sparkling femininity of the opening reinforce addiction and the trail of scent. This perfume is a symbol of luxury, desire and modernity.

Inspired by the creative vision of Stefano Pilati, Artistic Director of Yves Saint Laurent, Belle d'Opium is the fragrance of a modern Salomé, a woman full of ambivalence, fragile and dangerous, with an irresistible beauty and grace.