French Actress and Singer Charlotte Gainsbourg Becomes the Face of the new Balenciaga Fragrance

LONDON - Coty Prestige, a division of Coty Inc., and the house of Balenciaga announced today that they have signed an agreement with actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg to be the face of their new fragrance.

Charlotte Gainsbourg is an accomplished actress recently named best actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her leading role in Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist”. She is the daughter of Jane Birkin, the famous English singer and actress, and Serge Gainsbourg, an iconic French singer and songwriter.

As a singer, she has released two albums and is currently working on her third studio album.

“My friendship with Nicolas Ghesquière, has become so strong over the years that our mutual admiration is such that I was secretly hoping to be the face of Nicolas’s first fragrance for Balenciaga. This new step in our collaboration thrills me and today, I have the feeling that the house of Balenciaga has become my second home,” said Charlotte Gainsbourg, Balenciaga’s muse and face of the Fall 2008 advertising campaign.

Nicolas Ghesquière, Creative Director of Balenciaga, declared “It was very important for me to have Charlotte Gainsbourg personify my first Balenciaga fragrance. Her unique sense of style, her graceful and intense talent have always been very inspirational for me. This fruitful and long standing relationship Charlotte has with myself and the house of Balenciaga gives all its meaning to this project” .

Catherine Walsh, Senior Vice President Marketing American Licenses Coty Prestige said, “Charlotte Gainsbourg, besides her close collaboration and friendship with Nicolas Ghesquière, truly embodies the unique Parisian chic of this new fragrance.”

Charlotte Gainsbourg will be the worldwide face of the new Balenciaga fragrance which will launch worldwide starting February 2010.

About Balenciaga

Founded by Cristobal Balenciaga in 1918, Balenciaga has become, under the creative direction of Nicolas Ghesquière, a very influential player of the fashion scene.

In 2001, Gucci Group, in partnership with Nicolas Ghesquière, acquired Balenciaga, and the brand is recreating the influence and respect that the house commanded in its former heydays.

Balenciaga today creates women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories that are sold worldwide and is enjoying a very strong growth in all categories.

Balenciaga is part of Gucci Group N.V., owned by PPR. Shares in PPR are traded on the Euronext Paris (#121485, PRTP.PA, PPFP).

About Coty Inc.

Coty was created in Paris in 1904 by François Coty who is credited with founding the modern fragrance industry.

Today, Coty Inc. is one of the world’s largest fragrance company and a recognized leader in global beauty with annual net sales of $4 billion. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, passion, innovation and creativity, Coty Inc. has developed an unrivaled portfolio of notable brands and delivers its innovative products to consumers in 90 markets worldwide.

The Coty Prestige brand portfolio is distributed in prestige and ultra-prestige stores and includes Baby Phat, Calvin Klein, Cerruti, Chloé, Chopard, Davidoff, Home Skin Lab, Jennifer Lopez, Jette Joop, Jil Sander, JOOP!, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenneth Cole, L.A.M.B. fragrance by Gwen Stefani, Lancaster, Marc Jacobs, Nautica, Nikos, Phat Farm, Sarah Jessica Parker, Vera Wang, Vivienne Westwood and Wolfgang Joop.

For additional information about Coty Inc., please visit www.coty.com

Source: Coty Prestige

PRESS CONTACTS, BALENCIAGA, Paris, Lionel Vermeil, Lionel.vermeil at fr.balenciaga.com, Tel +33-1-56-52-17-47, Fax +33-1-56-52-17-10; New York, Pierre Rougier, PRConsulting, Pierre at prconsulting.net, Tel +1-212-228-81-81, Fax +1-212-228-87-87; COTY PRESTIGE, Paris, Isabelle Mical, Vice President Public Relations, isabelle_mical at cotyinc.com, Tel +33-1-58-71-75-80, Fax +33-1-58-71-75-88; London, Amy Hegarty, Senior Press Officer, amy_hegarty at cotyinc.com, Tel +44-208-971-4145