- Giorgio Armani has named Jonathan Bailey global fragrance ambassador for "I Will," the house's first new masculine fragrance pillar in over 20 years.
- The campaign, directed by Todd Field, was shot at Universal Studios and follows an actor chasing his next role in L.A. under the tagline "It's not about luck, it's about will."
- The deal deepens Bailey's ties to the house beyond Emporio Armani's Fall 2024 eyewear campaign, arriving after the late designer personally shaped the scent before his 2025 death.
- I Will launches in the US on August 15 and the UK on September 9 (£120/100mL), ahead of a wider European rollout.
Giorgio Armani has tapped Jonathan Bailey as global fragrance ambassador for “I Will,” the house’s first new masculine fragrance pillar in more than two decades. The appointment, announced August 6, builds on a relationship that began with Bailey fronting Emporio Armani’s eyewear campaign in Fall 2024.
Directed by Todd Field, the campaign film was shot at Universal Studios and follows an actor arriving in Los Angeles in search of his next role.
Bailey called the project deeply personal, telling WWD he felt the weight of Armani’s death in 2025, since the designer shaped the fragrance’s bottle and story before he passed. “I’ve been part of the Armani family for a few years, as a little bro,” Bailey said.
Built over four years and more than 2,800 trials by perfumers Alberto Morillas and Nathalie Lorson, I Will is an oriental woody eau de parfum opening with bergamot, cardamom and lavender before settling into vanilla, wood and leather.
Richard Pinabel, global brand president of Armani Beauty at licensee L’Oréal, said the house waited more than 20 years since Armani Code to launch again only once it had a distinct point of view.
Bailey enters the campaign fresh off becoming 2025’s highest-grossing actor via Wicked: For Good and Jurassic World: Rebirth, and being named People’s Sexiest Man Alive.
Rather than chase more roles, he’s spent 2026 growing his LGBTQ+ charity, The Shameless Fund, while still making room for select brand work. He recently became The MARTINI Man in a multi-year aperitivo campaign and appeared in Burberry’s 170th-anniversary trench portrait series.
On the brand side, this marks Armani Beauty’s second major face-driven pillar bet this decade: Cate Blanchett has anchored the women’s side as Global Beauty Ambassador since 2018 and the face of Sì since 2013.
Armani joins a broader wave of houses leaning on leading men for fragrance storytelling this year, following Jacob Elordi’s Venice heist film for Chanel and Natalie Portman’s eighth run as the face of Miss Dior.
Takeaways
Armani sitting out a new men’s fragrance launch for over 20 years, then handing it to Bailey days after mourning its founder, says this wasn’t a casting decision; it was a succession moment.
Pairing a “quiet determination” message with an actor who’s actively stepping back from Hollywood to run a charity gives the campaign a credibility most celebrity fragrance deals don’t earn.
And with Elordi, Portman and now Bailey all leading cinematic fragrance shorts this year, luxury beauty seems to be betting that a short film sells scent better than a bottle shot ever could.
Can I Will build its own identity, or will it always live in Armani Code’s shadow? With Cate Blanchett anchoring the women’s side since 2018, is Bailey being groomed as Armani Beauty’s long-term men’s face?
