While Sofia Coppola’s upcoming On the Rocks might be under wraps, the director and star Rashida Jones sat front row at Chanel’s fashion show in Paris on Wednesday night.
In what could be considered the set design of the decade, Oscar-winner Coppola and new creative director Virginie Viard re-created Coco Chanel’s famed rue Cambon apartment within the walls of the Grand Palais. Everything from the legendary mirrored staircase and five-pointed flowers on the chandeliers down to the black lacquer Chinoiserie screens that separated seating areas were remade on a grand Hollywood scale.
Coppola, who interned under the late Karl Lagerfeld when she was a teen, started collaborating with the brand last fall with a series of short films. The pre-fall collection — titled Metiers d’Art to reflect the brand’s craftsmen — marked the first time she helped create the stage as well.
It was the most star-studded Chanel show since Viard took over the house — Kristen Stewart, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Margaret Qualley and Lily-Rose Depp were all front and center — while Gigi Hadid and Kaia Gerber walked the white carpet.
Fosse/Verdon star Qualley — whose first job at 16 was walking in a Chanel show — sported a simple black-and-white Chanel gown for her big Emmy night back in September. But even with a model mom, Andie MacDowell, Qualley said her best fashion advice came from her other parent: “My dad gave me weirdly good fashion advice, which was basically not to care what anyone else thinks,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m so self-critical, and just to be able to feel comfortable in your own skin as opposed to trying to conform to an ideal.”
Yara Shahidi sat front row in a silver sparkly sheath and jacket, performing perhaps the most impressive fashion feat: not lifting up her phone to take photos during the entire show. She reflected on social media with a recent makeup-free shot that showed her acne.
“It was something I needed to do for myself,” she told THR. “I’m in an industry where I spend entirely too much time looking at myself and so it was important for me as someone who wants people to see their beauty, to practice what I preach. I realized I wasn’t, and was about to delete all those images, and realized it was an important moment to share.”
The Black-ish star said growing up on Instagram has had an impact. “As a young human going through the world, sometimes when I wake up I realize there’s an expectation of perfection,” she said. But what about likes, which are set to disappear sometime soon? “It will be interesting to see what that does. There are moments that I have unintentionally taken it in and, even if I’m big upping my friends, I need to remember to say how great they are without the inverse being ‘What am I doing wrong?’”
An ebullient Cotillard just wrapped new musical Annette with Adam Driver. While its the first time the Star Wars star takes on a musical, they have been working together to bring Leos Carax’s story to the screen for five years. “You get to work with these kinds of creators maybe once in your life,” she told THR. The film is aiming for a Cannes debut next year. “Everything I do is heavy for some reason. I like drama, not in my life, but I want to experience it in movies. It’s pretty dark.”
Cruz, who designed a line of sustainable jewelry for Swarovski, said the issue has become more important to her. “More and more brands are going in that direction, and I’ve been really lucky and proud of that,” she said, adding she loves to collect vintage and has a closet full of Chanel.
For the collection, which has traveled to Tokyo and Hamburg in past seasons, Viard doubled down on Paris. It was a walk through the decades with subtle notes, starting with wide 1980s shoulders set to a soundtrack of Roxy Music. A sweatshirt paired with a white silk skirt felt modern, layers of pearls and a birdcage bag added an element of insouciance that embodies the French girl style.
Stewart, Depp and Jones all stayed to dance the night away at the legendary La Coupole in the south of the city. Though the bistro is famous from its Art Deco days as a Picasso and Piaf hangout, the music was more disco, with Qualley and Coppola dancing to 1970s soul.
