- Valentino Beauty has named Dakota Johnson and Alexander Skarsgård the faces of a new, yet-to-be-unveiled fragrance.
- The campaign builds on Johnson's existing role as a Valentino fashion ambassador, while Skarsgård is newly added to the brand's beauty roster.
- The L'Oréal-licensed brand is currently seeing strong U.S. sales growth, making this a high-stakes launch.
- The fragrance itself has not yet been revealed; imagery and details are expected soon.
Valentino Beauty has unveiled Dakota Johnson and Alexander Skarsgård as the faces of its next fragrance chapter, with the campaign framed around themes of intimacy, individuality, and “the courage to feel deeply.”
For Johnson, this beauty deal deepens an existing relationship with the Maison: she became a Valentino global brand ambassador last fall, reuniting with creative director Alessandro Michele after years together at Gucci, and fronted the label’s recent Cruise 2026 ‘Nocturno’ campaign alongside a diverse cultural ensemble including Tate McRae and Dev Hynes.
Johnson joins a glittering house roster that already includes fellow global ambassadors like Clairo and Sophie Thatcher. She’s also no stranger to fragrance and fashion crossovers more broadly, recently fronting Calvin Klein’s latest campaign.
Skarsgård brings his own fragrance pedigree to the partnership, having previously fronted Calvin Klein’s “Encounter,” though this marks his first tie to Valentino.
He joins a growing list of Valentino Beauty faces that already includes Colman Domingo, who expanded his ambassadorship into the fragrance line earlier this year. The brand has been on an aggressive ambassador push lately, also recently tapping musician sombr for its Pre-Fall 2026 campaign.
No fragrance name, scent notes, or release date have been confirmed yet, though Valentino Beauty teased the project as “soon-to-be-unveiled,” suggesting a full reveal is imminent.
Takeaways
This pairing reads less like a typical celebrity-fragrance tie-in and more like a calculated bet on chemistry. Johnson and Skarsgård have never starred together before, and Valentino is explicitly selling their dynamic as the product.
With L’Oréal-backed Valentino Beauty riding strong U.S. momentum, the timing suggests the brand is leaning into star power to convert fashion credibility into beauty market share.
Does pairing two actors with no prior on-screen chemistry actually work for a fragrance campaign, or does it feel manufactured? How much does Johnson’s pre-existing Valentino fashion ambassadorship influence consumer trust in this beauty extension?
