Blake Lively is the new face of Gucci

Actress Blake Lively has been unveiled as the new face of Italian fashion house Gucci.

The Gossip Girl beauty will star in a print campaign for the brand's new fragrance, Gucci Premiere, and has shot a TV promo for the perfume with Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn.

Gucci creative director Frida Giannini tells Women's Wear Daily that Lively was picked for the role because of her impeccable style and attitude.

Giannini explains, "She is a girl of extraordinary beauty and she's a girl who loves fashion. She has great taste in clothes. Although she's young, she's also very determined, and I liked this spirit. She knows how to be a diva in the right sense, with an aspirational glamour."

The 24 year old follows in the footsteps of pop star Rihanna, actress Drew Barrymore, and actors Chris Evans and James Franco, who have all posed for the brand.

Lively adds, "Gucci is a staple. It is a brand I have always looked up to because to me it represents strength. In their designs, in their images, in what they stand for philanthropically, and especially in their fragrance. I couldn't be more proud to be working with Gucci and its heart, Frida."