"Gossip Girl" star Blake Lively's much-anticipated ad campaign for Chanel's Mademoiselle handbag are officially out, and the currently gossip-ridden Paris scene has apparently welcomed the blond's arrival with open arms.
In a recent article in The New York Times, a number of designers weighed in on what, exactly, has so charmed the industry about Lively, and Michael Kors likely put it best in calling her "the anti-downer":
"It’s the anti-bored, too-cool-for-school, locked in a club for months on end look that you see a lot of young actresses going for. There’s something very optimistic about her. I think she’s the anti-downer, anti-sad.”
The most interesting nugget in the Times article was the revelation that, unlike most actresses, Lively actually chooses all her own clothes. She does her research, is interested in brands, and apparently even turned down offers to front other brands because she was waiting for Chanel:
“I had other opportunities and I would say, ‘Thank you so much, but I am holding out for Chanel,’ ” she said. “That’s who I want to be the face of. And people would say, ‘Well, that’s unrealistic, they only hire Europeans,’ and I said: ‘Well, how great. I’ll be the first then.’ ”
Goes to show: Sometimes the best things really do come to those who wait.
