Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron will be the new “it” girl for Italian luxury brand Breil Milano.

Images of the actress, glamorous in a black cocktail dress and cascading blonde curls, have already appeared as part of the brand's fall ad campaign, which was shot in Los Angeles in July and debuted in Italy on Oct. 7. It will also be running in the United States, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Holland and the United Kingdom. The estimated budget worldwide for 2007 is about $21.4 million, Binda Group, the brand's Milan, Italy-based parent company said in a press release.

Theron was chosen not only for her natural beauty, but for her “modern-woman personality,” the company said.

“The actress represents a new type of woman, a mix of sensuality and determination, sophistication and down-to-earth attitude, elegance and simplicity,” the company said in a release. “She will be in charge of personifying a new female target whom Breil Milano wants to speak to and help drive the brand's international expansion.”

The brand, which is present in more than 40 countries, hopes to use Theron in efforts for further international expansion and the development of Breil Milano's high-end collections.

Under the terms of the multi-year contract, Theron is to star in all Breil Milano advertisements, including spots on television and cinema, print media and outdoor advertisements in various countries where the brand is marketed.

It's not the first jewelry-industry modeling stint for the South-African actress, who won an Academy Award in 2003 for her performance in the film Monster. She was previously featured in ads for Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil, but the brand sued Theron earlier this year for breach of contract after she allegedly reneged on the terms of an endorsement deal by being photographed wearing a competing watch brand.

Source: Nationaljeweler.com
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