By Kien Lee
Zoe Saldaña glows like liquid sunlight in the latest Saint Laurent campaign, bringing her signature grace and intensity to life through the lens of photographer David Sims.
In a striking penthouse suite, perched high above the sprawling city, Saldaña’s commanding presence creates a captivating contrast against the angular urban landscape below. The interplay of sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows further enhances the fluidity of the dresses and jewelry, melding nature and architecture into a single, mesmerizing vision.
The campaign arrives just as Saldaña celebrates a groundbreaking moment in her career — her first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress in the movie Emilia Pérez. Emilia Pérez, a bold, boundary-pushing Spanish-language musical crime thriller, marks a daring new chapter in the visionary career of Jacques Audiard. Premiering in 2024, this cinematic masterpiece draws inspiration from Audiard’s own opera libretto, adapted loosely from a poignant chapter in Écoute, the 2018 novel by the talented Boris Razon.
At its heart, the film tells the gripping tale of a fierce Mexican cartel leader, portrayed by Karla Sofía Gascón, who enlists the expertise of a brilliant lawyer, played by Zoe Saldaña, to orchestrate a daring escape — one that involves both vanishing from the criminal underworld and undergoing a radical transformation into womanhood. A collision of crime, identity, and reinvention, Emilia Pérez is a provocative exploration of power, selfhood, and the lengths one will go to escape the past.
Saldaña’s portrayal is nothing short of transformative, embodying strength, vulnerability, and an unyielding will to survive. Her performance has earned her critical acclaim, cementing her as one of the most compelling talents of her generation.
As she continues to break barriers in Hollywood, Saldaña’s collaboration with Saint Laurent only further elevates her status as a true muse of modern elegance. The campaign radiates the same majestic energy that Saldaña brings to both her work on screen and her impeccable fashion sensibility, showcasing a flawless fusion of power, beauty, and sophistication. In the wake of her Oscar nomination, she stands poised to make an even more indelible mark on both the film industry and the fashion world.
