Chanel has had a long history of elaborate perfume ads filled with lavish parties and mysterious main characters, one of the most famous being a series of ads featuring Keira Knightley's Coco Mademoiselle character. Since Knightley's first Coco Mademoiselle ad in 2007, she has created a chic alter-ego of elegance that has reappeared across many campaigns over the past decade. With Knightley stepping down from the Chanel embassador spotlight this year, let's take a look at her iconic perfume campaigns with the brand.
In 2011, Chanel released their second Coco Mademoiselle campaign with Knightley (seen above), causing a frenzy on the internet and cementing the ad series in the fashion campaign hall of fame. This cinematic commercial fully realized Knightley's mysterious and stylish character that would reappear over the next decade.
Seven years later we see the Coco Mademoiselle character still going strong with another viral campaign (seen above), this time emphasizing an air of fun-loving spontinaetity in Knightley's character. The way this campaign plays with the music, an original soundtrack for the commercial, to tell the story is a notable highlight to watch for.
And finally, to end Knightley's run as Coco Mademoiselle, a series of six 15-second commercials titled "On the Trail of Coco Mademoiselle". The first in the series (seen above) reprised the motorbike imagery from the 2011 campaign, showing small glimpses of a character we've come to know well.
As an actor, Keira Knightley is familiar with building out a personality for the roles she takes on. In the world of advertising and photography, models are often asked to do the same with even less information. Stepping into the world of another person takes skill and patience, however it can often show you another side of yourself you may not have met before, an alter-ego.