C'est Magnifique!

(PARIS) Lancôme lifted the veil on its newest fragrance Tuesday night with a fête at the Grand Palais, with newly-named ambassador Anne Hathaway on hand to reveal the L'Oréal-owned beauty giant's creation: Magnifique.

Clad in a prune strapless cotton sateen gown by Kaufman Franco, Hathaway, who in January joined the Lancôme family, will front the new Peter Lindbergh-directed campaign for the brand's new feminine line. The celebrated occasion was ushered in to the music of Cole Porter. In addition, Lancôme will launch a new Web site, Magnifique-Women.com, as a platform to connect and celebrate women via video. 

At the time of her appointment, Odile Roujol, president of Lancôme International, praised the fair-skinned actress for perfectly embodying modern femininity. "We know she will portray all the passion and excitement of our new fragrance, to be launched throughout the world in September 2008." In her new role, the New Jersey-born, New York native, joins fellow ambassadors Kate Winslet and Clive Owen.

For Lancôme, the alliance with the 25-year-old Hathaway represents a path for the billion-dollar beauty force to further align itself with a younger market as part of what Roujol has referred to as "Lancôme's new era of brand awareness." That initiative began with the signing in January of Owen as the face of the Lancôme Men treatment line and Hypnôse Homme fragrance. In June, Lancôme recruited Winslet to be the face of its best-selling Trésor de Lancôme perfume.

Hathaway, who first garnered international attention with The Princess Diaries, saw her popularity levels soar with her role opposite Meryl Streep in the 2006 blockbuster The Devil Wears Prada. Hathaway followed up the success of the film, based on a novel by Lauren Weisberger, with Becoming Jane, where she played a young Jane Austen. She is currently filming Bride Wars in New York with Kate Hudson.

The planned push is part of an aggressive effort by Lancôme to parlay its strengths further into the fragrance and treatment businesses. In the last year alone, the well-liked, well-perceived, and easy-going Hathaway has selectively appeared at such high-profile events as Valentino's 45th anniversary bash in Rome and sat in the front row at Giorgio Armani's Privé couture show in Paris. Most recently, she joined Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in celebrating the reopening of their Madison Avenue flagship in Manhattan and the launch of their new men's fragrance, The One for Men, and joined Roberto Cavalli at the American Museum of Natural History's annual spring gala.
 
Stay tuned for further details.