Natalie Portman’s rise to Hollywood stardom is nothing short of a fairytale. With a Golden Globe, Academy Award and a Harvard degree to boot, Portman’s profile is abound with intimidatingly admirable accolades – one of them being her decade-long relationship with luxury fashion house Dior. Despite these lofty achievements, the actress is anything but arrogant, her kindness and warmth radiating through our Zoom call. 

Aside from being an award-winning actress, the seasoned star is also known for her timeless elegance and selfless demeanour. This did not go unnoticed by Dior, who tapped Portman as the face of Miss Dior Cherie in 2011. She was filming for her Black Swan at the time. Now, as Portman films for her upcoming role in Thor: Love and Thunder in 2021, the actress fronts the latest Miss Dior fragrance campaign. Much like the fragrance itself, the campaign’s short film is bursting with unadulterated joy and love amidst hedonistic fields of flowers.

The classic rose top notes pay tribute to former Miss Dior fragrances, with Portman describing this latest iteration as more romantic and floral. “It has these woody undertones, which keep it feeling grounded, wild, and in touch with nature”, Portman adds. Created by master perfumer François Demachy, the new Miss Dior is based on the Centifolia rose and powdered down with notes of iris. An enveloping peony adds a sensual touch. The fresh, floral scent is all at once approachable yet intimate, echoing the sentiment and goal of Christian Dior when he first envisioned the Miss Dior fragrance. “Make me a fragrance that smells like love”, he famously declared.

Portman’s flower frolicking outfit of choice is a stunning couture dress designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri. The pleated silk dress took over five hundred hours to craft by hand, featuring millefiori flowers that were painstakingly embroidered, hand-painted and then printed onto the dress. Portman explains how the dress was one of the first couture pieces she’s worn that she can really run and move in. “I think she [Maria Grazia Chiuri] really understands how a modern woman wants to move and live, and her clothes reflect that. I think she understands that a woman wants to be active and feel powerful and express joy even when wearing couture.”

Having worked with the house for eleven years now, Portman has witnessed the evolution of Miss Dior first-hand. Fragrance is but another means of self-expression to Portman. “My first memory of getting a perfume was when I was twelve years old at my first film, Léon. Jean Reno gave me a gift at the end of it: my first bottle of perfume. I remember clearly that it just made me feel so grown up. And I think it’s always such a scent of being a lady, and being glamorous that perfume can give you.”