British actress Emily Blunt (of ubiquitous The Devil Wears Prada) joins the ranks of a number of lucky beauties who have starred in Yves St. Laurent’s now-notorious Opium fragrance campaign. Perhaps one of the most famous, if not infamous fragrances in the world, Opium has earned its reputation due to both its overpowering scent and controversial marketing.
The perfume, created to induce a drug-like euphoria, was masterminded by St. Laurent himself in the seventies with his signature (erotic and powerful) muse in mind. Click through to learn the history of this scandalous scent.
Opium’s birth spawned a new love of “oriental” fragrances (with spicy notes evoking the East) not seen since Guerlain’s Shalimar, making way for the wild sparks of eighties classic perfumes such as Coco by Chanel and Dior’s Poison.
At the time of its debut in 1977, Opium caused a media frenzy over the controversial nature of its name. Many disputed the naming of the perfume due not only to the obvious drug reference, but for offending a group of Chinese Americans because the Anglo-Chinese, or “Opium” Wars ravaged China for years in the mid-1800s.
Just last year, the commercial for Opium’s lighter, modern cousin, Belle D’Opium (seen below) was banned in the UK for glorifying drug addiction. I wouldn’t accuse it of glamorizing addiction so much as promoting frenzied dances in dimly lit areas. Sounds like good, clean fun to me.
Below is a compilation of the Opium campaign throughout the years, starring the likes of Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss and boasting directorial brilliance from movie mastermind David Lynch. Opium may be over-the-top and even un-PC, but much as with the St. Laurent woman, isn’t the point to be provocative?
Image: Sassisam
She is so so pretty! :)