These days, Theo James is very much A-list due to his turn in the Sicily-set season two of The White Lotus, Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen crime TV series and the science fiction Divergent Series. Perhaps, inevitably, the British actor is now being speculatively linked to the role of 007, though he is keen to dismiss the rumours.

What is certain, though, is that he has landed another famous franchise, this time in the luxury fashion and fragrance world. Because James has become the new face of Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue, the fresh, natural scent that in many ways is the olfactory signature of the Italian label.

James’s relationship with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana goes back a few years now, and before any formal partnership he was already a fan. We met him at the opening of Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda From the Heart to the Hands exhibition in Milan at Palazzo Reale last year, where the Italian duo staged an immersive show to celebrate their couture line. There, James admitted that though he certainly admired the extravagantly decorative pieces on show, he was more into the simple black Sicilian-inspired tailoring that made Dolce & Gabbana’s name in menswear in the first place, a look he was wearing on the night: single-breasted black suit with peak lapels and open-necked white shirt. 

A couple of months later, last summer, and he was there again, on the front row of the brand’s men’s couture show, staged on the island of Sardinia. This time, over a couple of days he was spotted in a white single-breasted suit with peak lapels and matching shirt, and on another occasion, a brown shirt matched with double-breasted brown suit, again with peak lapels, which add a dressy, sartorial touch to a tailored jacket.

Now, for Light Blue, he is pictured in considerably less, this being a campaign to promote a sun-kissed Italian fragrance redolent of seaside holidays. The shoes (or should we say, trunks) he is filling in this role are those of fellow Brit David Gandy, whose modelling career was infamously turbo-charged by his appearance in a boat in Capri sporting a very small white pair of same for the launch of the fragrance for men in 2007. Like a sort of sartorial torch, these have now been passed to James, who is pictured in the same Capri setting in similarly teeny swimwear. He is accompanied by Vittoria Ceretti, the Italian model who has been linked to Leonardo di Caprio since 2023. 

The new imagery stands as a testament to the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” adage. Light Blue is one of Dolce & Gabbana’s most successful fragrances and celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Launched as a women’s fragrance in 2001, the men’s version was added six years later. Both evoke the mood of summer through the scent of zesty lemons.

‘The Italian dolce vita, the spirit and atmosphere that connote it, are undoubtedly the elements that inspired Light Blue,’ says Gabbana. ‘Capri, the setting we chose for this fragrance, is a fundamental chapter in our history, to which we continue to add important pages. We have so many memories linked to the island; its colours, its smells continue to create new emotions and suggestions that, inevitably, influence our creativity.’

‘Who wouldn’t want to be enveloped in the warm and carefree atmosphere of Capri that Light Blue evokes?’ asks Dolce. ‘As Italians, we take beauty for granted and, often, we are not aware of the fortune we have, the charm in which we are immersed. We should learn to look around and really appreciate what surrounds us.’

The island of Capri, with its deep blue sea and striking limestone formations – the Faraglioni – that stick out of the water offshore, sits in the bay of Naples and is the perfect location in which to stage an idealised Italian romantic seaside holiday. This is precisely the scenario that James and Ceretti are portraying for Light Blue.

‘We’ve got to know Theo over the past few years, and he has all the qualities that we look for in the Light Blue man,’ says Gabbana. ‘Theo is charismatic, intense… of course he is good looking, but he also possesses an air of mystery, something hidden to be discovered,’ adds Dolce. ‘Rather like Capri itself,’ agrees his design partner.

While Light Blue Eau de Toilette, created for the label by master perfumer Olivier Cresp, combines lemon with Granny Smith apple for sharpness, which is relaxed by florals and cedarwood, the version for men, by “nose” Alberto Morillas, plays up woody aromas, combining these with notes of lemon, patchouli and rosemary.

In addition to these two classic scents, Dolce & Gabbana now introduces a pair of additional fragrances, Light Blue Capri In Love Eau de Parfum and Light Blue Capri In Love Pour Homme Eau de Parfum, both of which introduce more spice to the mix to bring to mind the landscape of Capri. The first, from perfumer Emilie Coppermann, incorporates jasmine tea with an apple foundation and introduces a base of longoza; while the second, for men, by Alexandra Carlin, suggests fiery black pepper and rich Capri fig along with deep-rooted patchouli.

The original Light Blue fragrances come in frosted glass bottles with velvet packaging, while the Light Blue Capri in Love bottles are decorated with a blue majolica print typical of Capri and are matched with boxes in the same design.

Light Blue Pour Homme range from £75, Light Blue women’s fragrances from £90; dolcegabbana.com