A Lovers-On-The-Run Fantasy Turns Fragrance Into A Getaway
Valentino Beauty is reviving the name Vendetta for a new fragrance duo—and it has recruited Alexander Skarsgård and Dakota Johnson to play two dangerously attractive partners in crime.
The campaign casts the actors as lovers on the run, bound together by instinct, desire and an “us-against-the-world” intensity rather than anything resembling sensible decision-making. Photographed by legendary image-makers Inez & Vinoodh, the first visuals lean into deep reds, intimate proximity and the kind of chemistry that suggests somebody has already abandoned the getaway plan.
It is the pair’s first professional collaboration despite knowing each other for more than a decade. Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele finally brought them together for a new fragrance chapter built around connection, individuality and unapologetic emotion.
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The launch introduces two complementary Eau de Parfums: Vendetta Donna and Vendetta Uomo. Valentino describes them as distinct olfactory signatures connected by one vision of intimacy and magnetic attraction.
Vendetta Donna is a floral gourmand woody fragrance built around tuberose, a red-orange nectar accord and sandalwood. Master perfumer Dominique Ropion created the scent with perfumer Andrew Everett, giving the composition a mix of solar florals, liqueur-like sweetness and creamy woods.
Vendetta Uomo, created by master perfumer Marie Salamagne, moves through sparkling Peruvian ginger, a cinnamon liquor accord and patchouli. The result is spicy, woody and warm—apparently designed for a man confident enough to flee dramatically through the countryside while smelling extremely expensive.
The bottles extend the fashion house’s couture codes into glass. A bold sculpted V motif structures each flacon, while pleated black caps nod to the folds of Valentino garments. Donna arrives in a deep Rosso Valentino hue, while Uomo holds its fragrance in a warm cognac shade.
The name itself reaches back to an original Valentino Vendetta scent released in 1991. Skarsgård has a personal memory of that earlier fragrance, recalling that he wore it to school discos as a teenager with the generous application technique of a boy who had not yet discovered restraint.
For this modern revival, the actor represents Vendetta Uomo’s free-spirited energy, while Johnson embodies the Donna fragrance’s instinctive and gracefully irreverent presence. The pairing feels particularly well judged: both performers can suggest mystery without looking like they spent an hour practicing mystery in a mirror.
Alexander Skarsgård And Dakota Johnson Plot Their Vendetta
Inez & Vinoodh frame the campaign as a modern romance shaped by danger, intimacy and the thrill of choosing each other over convention.
Alexander Skarsgård and Dakota Johnson for Valentino Beauty Vendetta. Photography by Inez & Vinoodh.
The still images are only the opening move. Valentino plans to continue the story with a dialogue-free campaign film later this summer, following Donna and Uomo through a passionate escape driven by movement, freedom and unspoken attraction.
Johnson has described the film as a glimpse into an intense, passionate relationship. The production apparently involved countryside locations, a moving vehicle and enough high-speed energy for Skarsgård to joke that any future collaboration should require considerably less dangerous driving.
Vendetta marks Valentino Beauty’s first major prestige fragrance launch in six years. Rather than introducing the scents with two separate, polished celebrity portraits, the house has built them as one connected narrative—two compositions, two personalities and one couple who look like they left town without telling anybody.
The fragrances arrive in the United States in late August, with the larger campaign story still waiting to unfold. For now, Skarsgård and Johnson have already delivered the essential perfume fantasy: danger, desire and absolutely no concern for the speed limit.
Source: Valentino Beauty, Maison Valentino, Vogue and MMSCENE. Photography by Inez & Vinoodh.
