Jane Birkin for Saint Laurent

Jane Birkin is one of those people who the fashion industry sees as one of its own but who manages to rise serenely above it all (except when objecting to cruelty to crocs involved in making the famous Hermès Birkin bag). But maybe it’s that too-cool-to-care approach that’s so appealing. Anyway, she’s just been unveiled at the new face of a Saint Laurent campaign so even at the age of 69, she’s in there with the best of them.

Hedi Slimane (still hanging on at Saint Laurent despite speculation that he might be on the way out) took two black and white shots of Birkin in a an classic Le Smoking look. It’s part of the brand’s Music Project that’s a non-seasonal series of campaigns featuring singers who’ve influenced Slimane over the years. Marianne Faithfull, Courtney Love and Joni Mitchell have also been featured.

It’s quite a coup for Slimane/Saint Laurent. Birkin usually resists requests to appear in ad campaigns and given the intimate/low-key feel of this one that she agreed to, we can probably assume that she’s not about to change that policy any time soon.