Margot Robbie in flared denim and a bikini top, as if she’d just walked off the set of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie...Her co-star Emma Mackey sitting a few seats up…And Kristen Stewart wearing her second killer Chanel suit in the same number of weeks (see also, the Met Gala)…
Hollywood’s big hitting actors were out in force last night to celebrate the Chanel Cruise 2023/2024 show in the heart of their hometown. And what a blockbuster it was: designed to show off the best of the Californian way of life.
When Chanel meets Coachella….
The location: Paramount Picture Studios. The theme: an ode to Hollywood. The set: a giant roller-skating rink. Around the edge were food trucks serving everything from candyfloss to French fries, and even some pop-up portaloos. Think Coachella, done the Chanel way. As guests took their seats, big screens showed the stars chatting on the front row, Kiss-Cam style: Riley Keough taking selfies with Kristen Stewart, Chloë Sevigny sitting solo waiting patiently for the show to begin and Snoop Dogg arriving with an entourage that suggested he was bedding in for the night.
Dressing Hollywood: in Chanel’s DNA
A week after the Met Gala – arguably the biggest A-list night out – celebrated Chanel’s late Karl Lagerfeld, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see so many stars there. But if you’d be hard pressed to name an A-lister who doesn’t rely on Chanel for red carpet appearances today, Chanel’s history with Hollywood runs deep. Coco Chanel first came to Tinseltown in the 1930s when producer Samuel Goldwyn asked her to dress his actresses on and off the screen. It was a ploy to get more women back into the cinema - a field that, like others, had been hit hard by the 1929 economic crash. His theory was prescient: dressing his actresses in the latest fashion would make them stars, thus attracting eyeballs to his movies. The only problem was that Hollywood wasn’t ready for Coco Chanel’s understated look and she parted ways with Goldwyn after three films.
Brace yourself for Chanel legwarmers
The same can’t be said for today. From super stylist Rachel Zoe to trainer to the stars Tracy Anderson, Hollywood’s elite were out in force for the Chanel Cruise show, no doubt taking note of the California kitsch collection. Bum-skimming shorts and crystal-cutaway swimsuits were worn with trainers and Chanel-branded legwarmers that looked straight out of the Malibu Barbie playbook. Meanwhile, metallic jumpsuits and sequin dresses in sunset colours looked made for a Cali-cool woman who lives the beach-to-bar lifestyle. There was even a Chanel skateboard and light-up heels – the kind of accessory you can expect to see lighting up (pun intended) social media. And whoever said Barbie pink was over had better rethink that statement: there was plenty of the colour on display here.
2023 is the year of Chanel...
2023 is shaping up to be a bumper year for the brand. A huge new store on the famous Rodeo Drive needs filling with stock the local customer will love. And the launch of both the New York Met retrospective, paying tribute to Karl Lagerfeld, and the V&A exhibition that tells the story of Coco Chanel, will result in multiple red-carpet opportunities.
Quite what Coco herself would have made of the show’s pièce de résistance is unclear. But as Snoop Dogg kicked off the after-party, belting out Drop It Like It’s Hot, the guests surged onto the rink, iPhones held high to capture the moment. A Chanel mosh-pit? Now that’s something you don’t see every day….