Yves Saint Laurent Manifesto: The Ad, The Interview with The Perfumers {Perfume Images & Ads}

Manifesto is the latest feminine fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent. It benefits from the participation of a celebrity spokesperson, actress Jessica Chastain who plays the role of a modernized type of the eternal feminine, both emancipated and reassuringly conservative in the commercial signed by Mert & Mercus. 

The story of this perfume is about seduction, and art. The venue is an auction where an A-type woman; morphing from daring artist into executive business woman, takes over the room, her love interest's bid, and probably the world. "Manifesto" is her signature (perfume) on the canvas, but also her skin, which she offers in the end on a business card looking like a credit card, conveying a subliminal sign about money relationships between men and women....

Aside from that, the commercial is involuntarily funny as you never saw a man bid at an auction with such precious, aesthetically-conscious gestures. You can also almost hear the sound of his jaw dropping on the floor as Chastain, impersonating a belle sans merci, makes her killer entrance in the room. 

Music is "Just Because I Do" by Selah Sue. 

Perfumers Loc Dong and Anne Flipo put on a corporate united front to talk about the fragrance. The key words seem to be "daring" and "bold". 

The main thing we noticed about the fragrance is that it relies on an overdose of sandalwood, mostly smelling of it. Apart from that, it reminds us too much of a perfume which was released with much less hoopla and in a completely different quarter of the fragrance world: Johri by Ava Luxe, a niche, indie brand in the USA.