They called me up and said, ‘Would you like to make a short film for the internet? You can do anything you want, you just need to show the handbag, the Pearl Tower and some old Shanghai.'”

Who could resist such an offer? Not the film director David Lynch, and not when Christian Dior was doing the offering. Lynch may be known for edgy, unorthodox films such as Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet but, for the past few years, he has explored a sideline in fashion films. He has worked with Gucci, Calvin Klein and Yves Saint Laurent on the filming of the Gucci, Obsession and Opium fragrance adverts respectively, as well as with shoemaker Christian Louboutin on a photographic exhibition about fetishistic shoes.

“I think this idea is real interesting,” says the director, in his southern drawl. And he's not the only one: Chanel has also lured a roll-call of directorial greats to create its own fragrance advert trilogy: Baz Luhrmann, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (of Amélie) and Martin Scorsese .