Charlotte Gainsbourg is new face of Balenciaga perfume

French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg has been named as the face of the new Balenciaga perfume.

Charlotte Gainsbourg has been named as the face of Balenciaga's new perfume. The French actress and muse of Balenciaga's creative director Nicolas Ghesquière will star in the advertising campaign of the yet-to-be-named debut scent by the French designer. The fragrance will be released globally through the world's largest perfume company, Coty Prestige, in February 2010.

Gainsbourg, the daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, is rumoured to be in Los Angeles to shoot the ad campaign and will attend a launch party in the city this week.

Asked why he chose Gainsbourg, Ghesquière told WWD, "Her unique sense of style, her graceful and intense talent have always been very inspirational for me. This fruitful and long-standing relationship Charlotte has with me and the house of Balenciaga gives all its meaning to this project."

It's not the first time the long-time friends have teamed up for Balenciaga. Last year Gainsbourg starred in the French label's autumn/winter 2008 advertising campaign, replacing fellow actress Jennifer Connelly, another Ghesquière muse.

Gainsbourg, already a firm fashion favourite, is set to see her profile soar with the impending release of the Lars von Trier directed Antichrist, in which she stars, and which is already causing shockwaves due to its sexually explicit and graphically violent content. She won the Best Actress prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival for her role.

Picture: Charlotte Gainsbourg at the Cannes Film Festival 2009.

balenciaga.com