Keith Richards

Rolling Stones guitarist and rock-and-roll bad boy Keith Richards is to become the new public face of Louis Vuitton, the French luxury fashion house said on Tuesday.

For his first ever ad campaign, the 64-year-old Richards -- who has a rocky history of drug use -- is seen cradling his guitar on a hotel-room bed, the lights part obscured by skull-print black drapes.

"Some journeys cannot be put into words. New York. 3 am. Blues in C," runs the slogal of the ad, shot by US photographer Annie Leibovitz and due to appear in the magazine press next month.

Richards plans to donate the fee for the ad to the Climate Project, launched by Nobel-winning former US vice-president Al Gore and backed by Louis Vuitton.

Famous faces stars to have represented Vuitton in the past include former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev, French screen icon Catherine Deneuve, and US actresses Scarlett Johansson and Uma Thurman.