NEW YORK: Perfume and fragrance manufacturer Chanel has announced that Oscar winning actress Nicole Kidman The Hours will represent Chanel N° 5.

Kidman will be featured in all advertising for No 5, on a global basis from next year. She was chosen because she represents a unique standard of elegance and embodies the spirit and modernity of the brand.

Kidman will star in a TV commercial and print campaign for the iconic fragrance brand. Chanel's artistic director Jacques Helleu, who has the worldwide responsibility for the No 5 advertising campaigns, has asked film maker Baz Luhrmann who directed Kidman in Moulin Rouge to conceive, direct and produce the campaign for Chanel.

Created in 1921, Chanel No 5 was revolutionary for its unique composition, contemporary bottle design and, of course, name. Chanel No 5 is a striking blend of jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, patchouli and iris, gentled with amber and a sparkling aldehydic top note. Eternally modern and elegant, it claims to have become the world's most famous and classic fragrance - and one of the best-selling fragrances of all time.