PARIS — Yara Shahidi is fronting Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest women’s fragrance Gaultier Divine, due out starting in August.

“I actually have been a fan of Gaultier’s house for some time,” the multihyphenate actress, model, activist, social justice advocate and feminist told WWD. “I used to be at all times inspired by how they really made probably the most of the creative medium.

“So, once I was approached with this, it was not only coming from a brand that I loved, but creatively they were proposing something really exciting — putting together this team of humans that I love within the creative field,” continued Shahidi, referring to the likes of Tess McMillan, Lola Rodriguez, Thando Hopa, Janet Jumbo and Ana Elisa Brito.

“What I like about how they built out the campaign is that everybody involved not only has a presence in the style world, but has a presence socially, in carving out spaces for people to feel more authentically themselves,” she said. “The opposite women which are within the industrial are all folks that I love out on this planet.”

Shahidi took part in discussions in regards to the casting, and has made friends with others within the ad.

“I like when a project lives past just the moment of filming,” she said.

Divine’s message, that each woman is a goddess — channeled through the fragrance’s name, campaign and packaging — resonates together with her.

“While the ad feels larger than life in so some ways, they are surely attempting to use it to discuss how all of us carry authenticity — [it is] how all of us carry a way of divinity,” she said. “It’s very special if you feel alignment in multiple areas of a partnership.”

As Shahidi dabbled in fashion, unbeknownst to her she began collecting vintage Gaultier pieces. Shahidi recently sported a Gaultier couture bustier to the 2023 Met Gala.

She has a longstanding relationship with fragrance, as well, explaining it “really defines an area for me.”

“I’ve at all times grown up with a love of smell,” she said. “Scent is at all times the fundamental way I feel teleported to a spot or can discover a spot.”

Vincent Thilloy, chief brands officer of Paco Rabanne and Jean Paul Gaultier at parent group Puig, said it was key to have an envoy who endorses diversity and inclusivity.

Shahidi, who’s African American and Iranian, created Eighteen x 18 to encourage young Americans to vote, for example.

In Divine’s ad, elaborate gilded doors open on to a scene of muses near a golden corset through which Shahidi then appears. She holds a bottle containing a miniature boat, Le Male Elixir vessel, that flounders as she rocks the flacon back and forth. The camera zooms in, and the ship becomes life-size, with marines battling to maintain it afloat. The ship’s captain, Raphael Diogo, catches Shahidi’s eye — and her his.

For Shahidi, this was probably the most fun she’s had filming an ad because it was such a creative endeavour.

“Everyone was so invested,” she said. “We walked into these sets that were just stunning and literally larger than life.”

The making-of was a mixture of planned and ad-libbed elements.

Shahidi said everyone on set probably bored with hearing “Motomami” by Rosalía.

“Because that’s how I got into the energy of this campaign, which meant I didn’t mind playing it over and once more until we got the shot,” she said.

The spot is ready to “Casta Diva,” by Maria Callas, remixed by Massive Attack.

“It’s latest, but with continuity going back to [Gaultier’s] roots, as well,” said Thilloy, of the campaign, which is chockablock with house codes, equivalent to sailor stripes.

The eau de parfum, created by Givaudan perfumer Quintin Bisch, is a floral, gourmand, marine scent that’s vegan, cruelty free and comprises ingredients with 90 percent stemming from natural, responsibly sourced origins.

For a latest Gaultier femininity, Bisch was after an opulent, spectacular and sensual perfume. That was created around a lily note, with other notes of white flowers, merengue and a salty sea breeze.

Divine is predicted to strengthen Gaultier’s presence on the ladies’s fragrance market.

“We have now many things to say about femininity at Jean Paul Gaultier,” Thilloy said.

Woman as powerful goddess can also be expressed through Divine’s perfume bottle, which is refillable.

“The bottle is absolutely emblematic,” said Thilloy, regarding the gold-colored flacon coming in the shape of an iconic Gaultier corset, like modern-day armor. (Think Madonna on her “Blond Ambition” tour in 1990). The body of this imaginary woman, nonetheless, is more rounded than that for the unique Classique bottle from Gaultier 30 years ago.

Divine is available in oh-so-Gaultier outer metal-can packaging, which has grow to be a signature for the brand.

The brand new fragrance will are available 100-, 50- and 30-ml. sizes priced at $160, $130 and $90, respectively.

Divine is to be first available for Gaultier’s most engaged consumers on the brand’s website starting Aug. 9. On Aug. 16, it can be sold on its sites for all consumers in France, the U.K., Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain.

A brick-and-mortar pre-launch is to happen in Harrods within the U.K., starting Aug. 14, after which all other markets are to follow starting in September.

Since Puig took over the Gaultier fragrance brand in 2016 from Beauté Prestige International, Shiseido’s perfume arm, the main target has mainly been on Le Male and likewise Classique. Consequently, the Gaultier brand’s overall business has greater than doubled and climbed nine notches to position it among the many top 16 fragrance franchises globally.

Inside that, Gaultier’s Le Male scent, launched in 1995, is in the highest eight of men’s fragrances worldwide. The brand also has Scandal men’s women’s scents available on the market today.

“We have now strong ambition; we actually need to go even further than that,” said Thilloy, of Gaultier’s fragrance momentum. “And we’re on course.”

The Puig executive wouldn’t discuss numbers, but industry sources estimate Divine could rank in the highest 10 of girls’s fragrances at launch. If that’s the case, that would see the perfume generating between 100 million euros and 150 million euros in first-year retail sales, in accordance with the industry sources.

Thilloy called Gaultier “a love brand with a robust purpose — due to Jean Paul Gaultier himself. The aim of the brand is celebrating differences — all cultures, all bodies and all genders. This isn’t marketing. It’s something that Jean Paul Gaultier was doing from Day One.”

And that keeps amplifying.

“We have now a robust community that’s very engaged,” Thilloy said.

Gaultier counts 7.2 million followers online and has amongst the very best rates of engagement within the industry.

The brand listens to its fans on social media and heeds their call. It noted people were requesting the return of the Gaultier² eau de parfum and likewise Madame, two fragrances entirely discontinued. So which might they like?

“The community answered like crazy,” Thilloy said.

So in October 2022, the brand relaunch a limited edition of Gaultier² on its website. The entire 5,000 units dropped sold out in lower than three days. Gaultier dropped one other 3,500 bottles in February, and people were snapped up in lower than 24 hours.

Next up can be 4,000 units available on Aug. 3 through Gaultier’s European web sites. Then, by year-end, a Gaultier²  U.S. drop is to happen.