THE FEMALE GAZE

SOFIA COPPOLA HAS A LIGHT TOUCH WHEN IT COMES TO CAPTURING YOUNG WOMEN AND ALL THEIR NUANCED NEEDS AND EMOTIONS. SO WHO BETTER TO FILM THREE UP-AND-COMING ACTRESSES AND HOW THEY MAKE CHANEL 19 THEIR OWN FOR THE BRAND’S CAMPAIGN ON THIS COOL-MEETS-CHIC HANDBAG? NOELLE LOH GOES IN FOR AN EXCLUSIVE BTS SNOOP.

 

The Chanel 19 campaign is Sofia Coppola’s latest collaboration with Chanel artistic director Virginie Viard (they also worked together on the cinematic set of the

Paris – 31 Rue Cambon 2020 Metiers d’Art show staged last December that saw the recreation of Coco Chanel’s apartment in Paris’ Grand Palais). Says Coppola of Viard: “She loves and respects the house and keeps it moving forward for today’s woman, based on what Gabrielle Chanel started and what Karl Lagerfeld continued.”

IN THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR: THE ENIGMATIC SOFIA COPPOLA, QUEEN OF HYPER-STYLISH, PASTEL-SOAKED ART HOUSE MOVIES ABOUT WOMEN NAVIGATING GIRLHOOD AND FINDING THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD. THE DIVERSE CAST: THE CANADIAN MIXED-RACE TAYLOR RUSSELL, 25, WHO SHOWED ALL THE PROMISE OF A FUTURE OSCAR WINNER WITH HER POWERFUL PERFORMANCE IN THE 2019 DRAMA WAVES; THE 29-YEAR-OLD FRENCH MODEL-TURNED-ACTRESS MARINE VACTH WHO’S AS CHARISMATIC ON-SCREEN AS SHE IS A STUNNER WITH HER BEE-STUNG LIPS, PIERCING GREY EYES AND EFFORTLESSLY COOL PERSONAL STYLE; AND MARGARET QUALLEY, ALSO 25, SCION OF ANDIE MACDOWELL AND NEWLY MINTED HOLLYWOOD IT GIRL FOLLOWING HER BEGUILING TURN AS A FREE-SPIRITED MEMBER OF THE MANSON FAMILY IN QUENTIN TARANTINO’S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (2019). AND NOW THE STORY: A LOOK AT THREE VASTLY DIFFERENT WOMEN’S RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE SAME OBJECT OF AFFECTION, EXCEPT THAT IT’S NOT SOME BOY, BUT THE CHANEL 19 HANDBAG.

 

IT MIGHT SOUND LIKE A FEEL-GOOD CHICK FLICK, BUT COPPOLA’S RECENTLY RELEASED CAMPAIGN FOR CHANEL’S “LAST-BORN” SIGNATURE BAG CREATED LAST YEAR (HENCE ITS NAME) COMES WITH A FASHIONABLY CHARMING LESSON. “I WANTED TO SHOW HOW CHANEL IS SO CLASSIC, IT CAN WORK WITH MANY PERSONALITIES AND IS GREAT TO SHOW ON DIFFERENT WOMEN,” SHE SAYS. DESIGNED BY THE LATE KARL LAGERFELD AND THE MAISON’S CURRENT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR VIRGINIE VIARD, CHANEL 19 IS THE LABEL’S NEXT-GEN EVERYDAY FLAP BAG. THE QUILTED PATTERN ON ITS FINISH IS EXTRA LARGE, ALONG WITH ITS DOUBLE C CLASP, FOR A MASCULINE EDGE. ITS LEATHER-LACED, TRI-FINISH CHAIN SHOULDER STRAP AND CHUNKY SHORTER CHAIN MEAN VERSATILITY IN THE WAY ONE CAN WEAR IT. THIS SEASON, IT COMES IN DENIM, COLOURED LEATHER AND VARIOUS TWEEDS, WHICH ALL IN BASICALLY MAKES IT KIND OF LIKE THE BEST TYPE OF CHICK FLICKS: FUN, SOPHISTICATED AND – IN ROTTEN TOMATOES PARLANCE – “CERTIFIED FRESH” NO MATTER THE TIME.

 

Campaign star Margaret Qualley – seen here with a maxi version of the Chanel 19 in classic black lambskin – distils the magic and relevance of Virginie Viard, who had co-created the bag: “I feel like the best version of myself when I’m wearing her designs.”