Lenny Kravitz, in an ad for Y from Yves Saint Laurent

The iconic submerged YSL Cassandre sits at the bottom of a blue sea on powdery white sand, like an apparition. Then he appears, rising from the depths towards the light. It is a peaceful, dreamlike, meditative shot.

The prelude to a new, rawer, more acoustic version “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, recorded especially for the new campaign by Lenny Kravitz – a legendary song, reinvented.

Yves Saint Laurent Beauté is proud to present a striking interpretation of its olfactory icon: Y Eau De Toilette, a mineral woody fougère contrasting aromatic lavender with sensual woods.

In the film authored by the young award-winning director Jessy Moussallem, the rock legend and Y ambassador reveals a more intimate facet of who he is. With it, Lenny shares a very important, personal part of his life as the film captures his journey back to his roots, in the Bahamas where his maternal grandparents were from. A place where he spent countless childhood holidays with his Bahamian cousins, and where he feels most at home.

With him, the viewers discover the raw beauty of the small island of Eleuthera –a name that means “freedom” –where Lenny has a home and a small recording studio. His retreat and haven. The place where he goes to be himself, to be the most inspired, feel the energy of nature.

“On Eleuthera, Lenny’s not living a celebrity life”, Jessy Moussallem explains. “It’s his place to reconnect with his true self, his roots –the people, the landscapes, the crystal-blue sea waters, the gentle bites of the sun and wind –that his grandfather knew. It’s where he gets to be intimately himself. This film reveals that: those roots and layers of the man beneath the star. Showing us how Lenny draws his creative energy and fuels his passion from the place of his origins. From his true home.”

Though Lenny is still every inch a rock god in the new campaign, he is also a man, at one with the elements and the Bahamian identity he proudly lays claim to, a slim figure in black against the blue sea and sky… Free. Inspired. Inspiring. That’s Y.

Lenny Kravitz, comments: “I fall in love with The Bahamas when I was 5 years old. My grandfather is from an island called Inagua and my mother wanted me to know my roots, my family and my Bahamian culture and I literally fell in love with the place. The first time I touched the ground and smelled the sweet island air. And I have travelled the world, I have lived in many places, but the Bahamas is always been my true home.”

Advertiser: Yves Saint Laurent Beauté

Brand Managers: Stephan Bezy, Audrey Ayache

Ad Agency: BETC

Agency Managers: Delphine de Canecaude, Fanny Fragu, Julia Schenck

Executive Creative Director: Florence Bellisson 

Associative Creative Director: Fanny Buratto

Art Director: Julie Richard

Traffic Manager: Letizia Felici

Art Buyer: Isabelle Mocq

Creative Music Supervisor: Adam Ghoubali

TV Producer: Fabrice Brovelli

Production Company: PHANTASM

Director: Jessy Moussalem

Sound Company: GUM