Louis Vuitton ad was Gorbachev's own idea, company says

PARIS (AP) The new ad for Louis Vuitton (LOO'-ee vih-TAHN') featuring former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was apparently his own idea.

The ad shows Gorbachev in the back of a car, with a Vuitton bag at his side and the Berlin Wall in the background. It's part of a new campaign shot by photographer Annie Leibovitz.

A spokesman says the company knew it wanted Gorbachev for the ads, but that it didn't know how to use him. But he says Gorbachev quickly solved that problem.

The former president told the French luxury label that he wanted to be pictured by the Berlin Wall because one of his proudest moments was when it came down. The spokesman says Gorbachev believed the photograph could be beautiful and symbolic.

Magazine ad campaign starts next month. It also features tennis star Steffi Graf and her husband, Andre Agassi, and actress Catherine Deneuve.

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