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Lana Del Rey Fronts the Latest Fragrance from Gucci

Weā€™ve come to expect the unexpected from Gucci creative director Alessandro Micheleā€”and by unexpected, we mean models walking the runway with baby dragons in tow, tiger-faced velvet cushions, and extravagant soirees thrown in haunted locales. And such was the case this past November, when he transformed Los Angelesā€™s legendary Hollywood Forever cemetery into a sprawling bash in honour of the Italian fashion houseā€™s fragrance, Gucci Guilty. The final resting place of Judy Garland, Rudolph Valentino, and Johnny Ramone, to name a few, was given the Michele dusting. Statues were adorned with oversized floral wreaths and crypts served as showcases for perfume bottles, while a larger-than-life pink neon sign broadcasted the tag #ForeverGuilty (the brandā€™s arty @GucciBeauty Instagram account was later populated with curated snapshots of the nightā€™s festivities).

Lana Del Ray photographed by Glen Luchford, courtesy of Gucci. 

It was all to herald a new era for the fragrance, which has been reborn under Micheleā€™s influence after almost a decade as a menā€™s-only scent. Guilty now includes an eau de parfum for women, which is cased inside a slick golden ode to Old Hollywood and fronted by none other than retro goddess Lana Del Rey. The singerā€™s casting feels like a match made in Gucci heavenā€”Del Reyā€™s reimagined American narrative is kindred to the brandā€™s bold idiosyncratic vision. ā€œWhen I met Alessandro, he told me that he designed a lot of his ideas and clothes whilst listening to the music, and I just thought the whole thing was a good fit, so I was really excitedā€”itā€™s a dream,ā€ says the singer. 

Gucci Guilty Pour Femme Eau de Parfum

Del Rey stars alongside frequent Gucci collaborator Jared Leto in the campaign, a kitschy technicolor romp around the City of Angels, lensed by photographer Glen Luchford. Clad in clashing suits, the duo meditate on the grass by star-studded tombstones, visit a grocery store inhabited by zoo animals, and feast at a late-night diner where Courtney Love cameos as a waitress. ā€œWhen I spoke to Alessandro, he said that he wanted the whole campaign to be about two people who were living life on their own terms,ā€ says Del Rey. ā€œI was thinking of a woman who was really fun, free, and in love,ā€ she says. ā€œJust feeling fabulous wearing the most outrageous outfits and acting like it was nothing.ā€ That woman isnā€™t far off from the singer herself, whose signature style is showcased here at its exaggerated best here: dripping in rhinestones, with a bedazzled hairclip tucked gently into her Priscilla Presley bouffant. Her elongated, dust-pink talons caress the bottle, accentuating its rose-gold liquid.

The eccentric campaign is evocative of the scent itself, an Oriental floral that feels ultra-feminine, but with just enough spice to embody a hedonistic reprieve from everyday life. Top notes feature mandora, a Mediterranean citrus from Cyprus, which is smoothed out with bergamot and pink pepper. Meanwhile, lilac is contrasted with rosy and violet notes and layered with geranium to create a nuanced blend. Patchouli oils are what give it that hedonist edgeā€”which brings us back to the fragranceā€™s name: Guilty. The word has taken form in so many headlines lately and has come to mean so many things. As far as Del Rey is concerned, though, Gucciā€™s take isnā€™t damning. On the contrary, itā€™s about ā€œbeing unapologetically who you are, being really bold and brazen, if thatā€™s who you are, and just being free.ā€

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