More than 60 years after she began her career as a model and actor, the unapologetically fleshy and feminine Marilyn Monroe has been chosen as the new face of Chanel No5.
The House of Chanel recently discovered an archive recording of Monroe being interviewed by the editor-in-chief of Marie Claire in 1960. In the clip Monroe is heard to say: “You know, they ask me questions. Just an example: ‘What do you wear to bed? A pyjama top? The bottoms of the pyjamas? A nightgown?’ So I said, ‘Chanel No5’, because it’s the truth … And yet, I don’t want to say ‘nude’. But it’s the truth!”
In this previously unpublished image, Monroe puts her legendary words into action. The shot is by Bob Beerman, who photographed Monroe naked in bed with a bottle of Chanel No5 on her nightstand in 1953 for the magazine Modern Screen.
She’s certainly inspiring us this season with an image that says everything we want from summer: the look of warm skin, the smell of sensual fragrances, and the carefree emotions that come from releasing your body from months of concealment.
