Model Edie Campbell, the new face of YSL Black Opium. Photo / Supplied.
Model Edie Campbell, the new face of YSL Black Opium. Photo / Supplied.
The model tasked with making a mythic fragrance modern is up for the challenge.
Fragrance can be a person's presence in their absence, says model Edie Campbell. "It's quite powerful," says the British "it" girl model chosen to front the next chapter in the Opium story, in which the enduringly popular and strikingly original oriental fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent is recast for anew generation as Black Opium.
Where once Jerry Hall reclined on a lacquer chaise longue, Campbell runs through Shanghai in equally striking campaign imagery. The shoot by photographer Daniel Wolfe included a pre-dawn session in the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel. This behind-the-scenes shot, exclusive to Viva, shows why Campbell was chosen to embody the Yves Saint Laurent mix of elegance, freedom and subversion. She defines the anything but stuffy heritage brand as "kind of cool without trying too hard".
The description suits Campbell herself who, in a few years, has gone from being an art history graduate of London's Courtauld Institute to scoring three Vogue Italia covers in 2013 and the title model of the year at the British Fashion Awards. Along the way she has been a favoured Chanel model, chopped off her long blonde hair in favour of a black rock'n'roll shag and picked up a stack of lucrative contracts.
It began in 2009, when Campbell was spotted by Lucinda Chambers and shot by Mario Testino for a British Vogue feature on bright young things. With a mother, Sophie Hicks, who was once a British Vogue fashion editor, Campbell is well connected. She is as passionate about horseriding as she is about fashion and says her all-time favourite fragrance is the smell of horses and cut grass. Campbell says she associates scent with friends and family. Here are a few more of her views:
What do you think makes a woman beautiful? Not being too concerned that she is beautiful.
What is your beauty routine? I wash my face with hot water and use Avene cleansers, if I have them with me. I am disciplined about putting SPF on my face because I burn like a newborn baby.
Black Opium eau de parfum. Photo / Supplied.
What part does fragrance play in your life?
I think fragrance should be almost unnoticeable - a quiet hum in the back-ground. With some people fragrance becomes irreversibly intertwined with their identity.
What YSL products do you use? The Baby Doll Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils and the black eyeliner are my favourites - minimum effort, maximum effect.
What do you like to do in London when you're not working? Get in my car and head for the countryside. Or go see some art. I like the Wallace Collection, all the really twee French rococo artists. In New York, I love going to the Neue Galerie to see the German expressionists. Wandering around London always makes me happy. Occasionally, I play tennis, but that's really just because I like to get dressed up in those white outfits.
What role does horseriding play for you? Escapism, and discipline. It's very good for crushing the ego because you never do as well when you're competing as you hope you might.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I just cross my fingers that life will keep throwing fun stuff my way.
• Black Opium eau de parfum goes on sale in New Zealand from Monday, initially in selected Farmers stores only. It features an innovative coffee bean accord and costs from $110 for a 30ml bottle.
