This incredible commercial for Kenzo perfume can be described as bonkers, out of this world, creepy and insane. It’s all of it and more, and you just have to see it.
Thinking way out of the box, Kenzo has single-handedly taken fragrance advertisements to stratospheric levels.
The ad stars the gorgeous 21-year-old Margaret Qualley, an American model and actress best known for her role as Jill Garvey on The Leftovers, a HBO television series.
If you think those dark beautiful eyes and features are familiar, it’s because she is the daughter of actress-model Andie MacDowell and model-musician Paul Qualley. In the ad, Kenzo Parfums (under LVMH) unveils Kenzo World, the first feminine fragrance conceived by Kenzo creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon.
Lim and Leon joined Kenzo in 2011 and they quickly connected with the core identity of the house founded by Kenzo Takada in 1970, energising it with fresh creativity, including iconic motifs.
Introduced for the 2013 fall-winter collection, the eye motif has become a symbol of the Kenzo universe. “We loved the interpretation of the eye really informing your world,” says Lim.
So now, the iconic eye symbol marks the new feminine fragrance from the house of Kenzo, Kenzo World. It is this eye that is dramatically and ingeniously interpreted in the commercial by director Spike Jonze, who directed John Malkovich and multi-award winning choreographer Ryan Heffington, who was behind Sia’s Chandelier video.
At the beginning of the commercial Qualley is seated amongst well-heeled guests at a formal dinner in a grand ballroom.
Dressed in a sophisticated emerald green evening gown she stands out from the formal black wear of fellow diners.
In the middle of small talk Qualley fidgets, clearly uncomfortable. She politely excuses herself and wonders into the foyer of the ballroom. And, then Qualley’s genius is revealed.
She dances like nobody’s looking, pushing her facial muscles to all directions and rolling her eyes, and finally shaking all over as if her body is screaming to get out of that stuffy ballroom.
Trained as a ballerina, Qualley is such a thrill to watch as she dances to “Mutant Brain”, an original track by Sam Spiegel & Ape Drums and vocals by Assassin, showing off her masterful acting and dancing talents. In the end you’ll either want to be Qualley or buy a bottle to borrow the spirit of the fragrance.
This ad will be a tough act to follow.
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