Pride and Prejudice star Keira Knightley is the new face of Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, taking over from Kate Moss, it was announced in New York by Chanel today.
The 21-year-old British actress will appear in Chanel adverts beginning in 2007, the company said.
Moss’s contract expired last October after the 32-year-old supermodel had starred in the Coco Mademoiselle ads since 2002.
She lost several high-profile modelling contracts last year after a tabloid published pictures of her allegedly using cocaine in a London music studio.
“Keira Knightley is a bright, young actress who has already made her mark in a diverse portfolio of films, including her Oscar-nominated performance in Pride & Prejudice,” said Chanel artistic director Jacques Helleu.
He said Knightley’s elegance, beauty and modernity parallel some of the brand’s other previous famous faces, including Catherine Deneuve and Nicole Kidman, who represented Chanel No 5.
London-born Knightley said in a statement: “(I am) really proud to have been asked to work with such an iconic house as Chanel, and thrilled to follow the extraordinary women who have been associated with it before.”
Knightley’s coming films include Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which is set for release this summer.