Fashion's favourite face the new Global Ambassador of Rabanne. Gigi Hadid is already being put to work as the face of a new fragrance, Million Gold For Her. It’s a divine feminine moment, with a blend of sparkling rose and white flowers against a salty mineral musk accord. The fragrance also features Vanilla Bourbon Absolute from Madagascar, a sustainably-grown vanilla from Fairtrade-certified smallholder organisations that respect biodiversity and help improve the lives of the local women. A seriously feel-good fragrance. To the very fitting tune of Beyoncé’s empowering Pure/Honey, the fragrance championing a fearless femininity, with Gigi Hadid as the perfect person to front the campaign.

"Million Gold For Her reminds me of how Rabanne feels as a brand,” says Gigi. “It’s powerful and beautiful, with rose, lavender and a salty mineral musk undertone. I love the balance. I think that a lot of my personality has masculine tinges to it, so I Iike the mix of feminine and masculine elements fragrance.” Below, Gigi answers 10 Questions about becoming the face of Rabanne:

How would you describe the Rabanne woman?

“Confident, strong, sensual, energised. Powerful.”

Rabanne's manifesto is to galvanise the next generation to forge a more creative and inclusive future. Do you share these values?

“Of course, totally. I feel like so much of that galvanising is in encouraging people to find their way of expressing themselves; finding what makes them feel powerful and ready to take on the day. No one wakes up feeling like a million bucks, regardless of who you're talking about. We all have to find the things that we armour ourselves with in order to go out into the world. Fragrance can be such a strong tool for that.

Million Gold For Her is about empowerment and excellence. What does empowerment mean to you?

“Empowerment to me is finding yourself and being unafraid to express that in all ways. It’s being unapologetic and knowing your work and your value and not diminishing that based on anyone else's thoughts or what the world tries to put on you.”

How do you define excellence?

Excellence is waking up every day and trying to learn something new. It’s never feeling like something is too much to learn. I think excellence is continuing to rise.

What’s your earliest perfume memory?

I can’t remember exactly, but I can picture the bottles. My mom had this beautiful tray of bottles in her bathroom. I wasn't just drawn to spraying them to try the fragrances, but was also drawn to the bottles themselves. I think that that was my young brain just being so interested—as it still is now— in creativity and making products and in design. I was interested in how different bottles can make you feel, how seeing the fragrance coming out of it can make you feel. Thinking about perfume now makes me realise I was interested in products and design ever since I was a kid.

The campaign’s official song is Beyoncé’s “Pure/Honey” from her Renaissance album. What do you love about this song?

I actually filmed the commercial listening mostly to “Ego” by Beyoncé, before I knew that “Pure/Honey” would be the official song. Which is funny! I didn't know that we would end up with a Beyoncé song, but that was definitely the vibe I got. I think of “Ego” as kind of a fun, second song that speaks to the energy of the campaign, like, “I got a big ego”. Sometimes you have to spray on a big ego. And you got to spray on the Million dollars. And, of course, I just think Beyoncé’s voice is pure honeydew. Like, that voice on top of anything... Smelling this fragrance and going out should make you feel like how you feel when you’re listening to Beyoncé. Million Gold For Her is just what she is: sexy, powerful, badass, amazing.

What do you love about modelling now When do you have the most fun? What is the most challenging?

“I think what makes it fun now is the contrast—modelling versus being a mom to my daughter. When she's with her dad is when I try to work the most. I have that time to pack in the jobs, and I choose work that means enough to me to fit it in. So I end up with a schedule full of things that are really fulfilling and that I really want to be there for. I’m also lucky to have a co-parenting relationship where when I show up to work, I can really focus on my job and feel like I'm there to give it my all and do the best that I can. Finding that balance made me confident both as a mom and as a model. I was like, "Okay, I can figure this out and I can be good at all the things I want to be good at." But I think that that can be scary for anyone.

What advice do you give to others who may want to start a business or build a brand?

I would say don't do it just to produce something, to wait until you find something that is genuine and naturally comes out of you. That will be the easiest way to be creative and the best way to start a brand with the possibility of longevity. It’s tough when you really connect to what you do, and even tougher when you don’t. I think that consumers are really smart these days, and people can feel when something isn't genuine or doesn’t come easily to the person creating it. So don’t rush or force it.

How would you define beauty at this stage of your life, and how is that different from how you might have defined beauty when you were younger?

I don't know if it's because I'm a Taurus, but I've always felt like my mentality's remained the same throughout all stages of my life. How do I explain it? I've always felt beautiful for the same reasons, like taking care of myself and my wellbeing and my mental state and the people I surround myself with and the relationships I put myself in. When I'm in a good place and those things are balanced, then I feel beautiful.

Do you have a personal mantra?

I don't know if I have a mantra. I think there have been certain parts of my life where I might have used a mantra, or had a certain outlook, but then once I'm past that point... I don't know. I move on. I'm pretty much a classic Taurus, at peace with the rhythm of life, the ups and downs. I see the benefit in both sides. And I'm pretty good at trying to find the lesson in everything. So if I had to name a mantra, I guess it would be “one day at a time”.

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