At the Cannes Film Festival, Chanel Seeks More Than Red Carpet Credits

PARIS — Chanel's relationship with cinema runs way deeper than the red carpet.
After dressing the likes of Penélope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o and Lily-Rose Depp for the Oscars, the French fashion house hopes to snag the spotlight again at the Cannes Film Festival — but this time, for films as much as fashion.
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In recent years, Chanel has expanded its support for cinema, which now encompasses everything from costume design to film restoration, in addition to initiatives geared at fostering the next generation of movie directors.
'Cannes has magnified the red carpet with the climbing of the steps. It's quite unique, but it's not the most important thing. What's most important for us is really the content,' Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, told WWD.
'The red carpet is a current moment, but a fleeting one, whereas a film is something lasting that demonstrates the house's commitment to this art form. That's why it's important not to focus just on the red carpet,' he added.
In Cannes this year, Chanel is involved in four projects.
The brand created a key look and accessories for Zoey Deutch, who plays actress Jean Seberg in Richard Linklater's 'Nouvelle Vague.' The French-language feature chronicles the making of Jean-Luc Godard's classic film 'Breathless' and the birth of French New Wave cinema.
Underscoring its lengthy relationships with its brand ambassadors, the house will also support Kristen Stewart's feature directorial debut 'The Chronology of Water,' which will have its world premiere as part of the festival's Un Certain Regard section. The actress has been a face of Chanel since 2013.
In addition, it worked with costume designer Virginie Montel on main competition entry 'Eagles of the Republic,' featuring another brand ambassador, Lyna Khoudri.
Lastly, Chanel is backing 'Arco,' French director Ugo Bienvenu's debut animation feature, set to bow in a special screening. His animation and production agency Remembers has worked on short films for Chanel shows, as well as a campaign for its Coco Neige line.
Pavlovsky noted that while Chanel has partnerships with nearly a dozen film showcases worldwide, including the Deauville American Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival, its presence in Cannes is more low-key. The event's official sponsors include luxury group Kering, jeweler Chopard and beauty brand L'Oréal Paris.
'When Chanel is present at the festival, it's always in the background. It's either to support a film premiere, or to celebrate an ambassador,' the executive said of Cannes.
As independent films compete for financing in a rapidly evolving landscape, fashion brands have stepped into the breach by becoming producers, cementing their cultural aura and solidifying their relationships with key talents, from actors to directors.
Saint Laurent scored a notable win last year with three films in competition in Cannes. Jacques Audiard's 'Emilia Pérez' scooped the Jury Prize and the joint Best Actress Prize.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton last year formed a new division named 22 Montaigne Entertainment in partnership with Superconnector Studios to explore possibilities for its 75 brands, which include Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany & Co. and Moët & Chandon.
Meanwhile, French billionaire François-Henri Pinault's family investment company Artémis in 2023 acquired a majority stake in Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, the powerhouse talent firm whose clients include Zendaya, Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks.
With film ties dating back to the '30s, when founder Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel headed to Hollywood at the invitation of Samuel Goldwyn, Chanel had a headstart on the competition, though it doesn't fancy itself as a mini-studio — for the time being.
'I can't say what the future holds, but right now, our approach is a little different. We're not trying to replace anyone. Our aim is to support talents and filmmakers in their art,' Pavlovsky said.
'That's perhaps the difference between us and other brands' initiatives. There's room for everyone. What's important is to have a strong individual vision that's consistent with our brand values,' he added.
Chanel's first foray into production came in 2014 when it helped to finance 'Clouds of Sils Maria,' a vehicle for Stewart that also starred Juliette Binoche and Chloë Grace Moretz.
The house not only supplied the actresses with clothes, jewelry, accessories and makeup, but also provided a portion of the budget to allow director Olivier Assayas to fulfill his dream of shooting the movie on 35-mm film instead of digitally.
Since then Chanel has collaborated with leading filmmakers including Sofia Coppola, Pablo Larraín and Leos Carax, part of a deep bench of talent cultivated by Elsa Heizmann, its global head of fashion's relationship with cinema.
Formerly global head of VIP relations for 16 years, she was named head of a new dedicated film division at Chanel in 2022. While the house has professionalized its approach to the sector, the process remains organic, with projects funneled through a network of producers, costume designers and PRs, she said.
'Already through VIP relations, we had initiated a lot of relationship development, film support and patronage,' Heizmann told WWD, citing Chanel's support of the Cinémathèque Française.
'By creating this department, the idea was to deepen those relationships and even develop links with people in the film industry that are not necessarily in the spotlight, such as costume designers,' she explained.
'The idea is to respect them, support them and connect them to the brand so that they nourish us. There's a kind of exchange of creativity,' she added. 'Projects come to us very naturally. We turn down very few, because we've spent years developing this ecosystem, this network of people.'
Often the films it backs feature its brand ambassadors, like Larraín's 'Spencer,' starring Stewart as Princess Diana, or Joshua Oppenheimer's musical 'The End' with Tilda Swinton. Typically, Chanel will also provide items for the stars' wardrobes.
Other times the brand's support is invisible, as was the case for Mona Achache's 2023 Cannes entry 'Little Girl Blue,' a passion project for star Marion Cotillard.
The brand produces promotional content, like a short video of film legend Catherine Deneuve in conversation with director Christophe Honoré marking the premiere of their film 'Marcello Mio' at the film fest last year. The following month, Honoré devised the scenography for Chanel's fall 2024 haute couture show at the Paris Opera.
'Each time we work with a director or an actor, it's an exceptional experience that fuels the evolution of the brand,' Pavlovsky said. 'It's always a great shot of adrenaline.'
These free-flowing relationships are inspired by the house's founder, whose welcoming party at the Los Angeles train station in 1931 included Greta Garbo. Chanel would create looks for Hollywood stars like Gloria Swanson, but her impact was most keenly felt in European cinema.
She memorably costumed actresses ranging from Jeanne Moreau in 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' to Delphine Seyrig in 'Last Year at Marienbad.' Romy Schneider credited the designer for helping her to shed the starlet image she forged by playing Empress Elisabeth 'Sissi' of Austria in a hugely popular trilogy of films in the 1950s.
Chanel met the Austrian-born actress through Italian director Luchino Visconti, who asked the couturier to create the wardrobe for his segment of the comedy anthology movie 'Boccaccio '70,' released in 1962. From then on the house dressed Schneider on- and off-screen.
'Chanel was friends with many talented actresses and directors. She supported Visconti and helped launch the film career of Robert Bresson. He was a young photographer who shot press kits for her, and she later encouraged his ambitions to become a director,' Heizmann recalled.
Likewise, under subsequent creative directors Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard, Chanel has fostered a talent pool that feeds into its image department — something that Matthieu Blazy, who took over as artistic director of fashion activities on April 1, is expected to continue.
'We like to develop these relationships because we love artists and film talents, but we also love to connect them through our events and to generate new projects,' Heizmann said.
For example, after Chanel supported the restoration of 'Paris, Texas' to mark the 40th anniversary of its Palme d'Or prize win at Cannes, Wim Wenders expressed an interest in working with Swinton. The brand gave him carte blanche to direct her in a teaser for its Métiers d'Art show in Hangzhou, China, last December.
A regular presence at Chanel fashion shows, Coppola has also directed several campaigns for the brand, most recently for its cruise show on Lake Como. In turn, the brand worked with the director on 'Priscilla,' creating the wedding dress worn by Cailee Spaeny in the title role of Priscilla Presley.
Rather than faithfully reproduce the dress, Heizmann asked Coppola what she wanted the look to convey. The end result incorporates elements of Chanel's spring 2020 couture collection. 'It was a collaboration with Sofia and her costume designer, and that's what made it interesting,' Heizmann said.
Similarly, it made sense to team with Linklater on 'Nouvelle Vague,' since Seberg wore Chanel in real life. The house worked with costume designer Pascaline Chavanne on looks for the character, as well as singer Juliette Gréco, played by Alix Bénézech.
Deutch, sporting a peroxide pixie cut, appears in a reproduction of an archival bustier dress made of striped taffeta and dotted organza, drawn from the spring 1956 haute couture collection. She's expected to wear Chanel on the red carpet too.
'She's wonderful in the film,' Heizmann enthused. 'The movie doesn't feature any of our brand ambassadors, but [we liked] the theme and the way it was approached. Richard Linklater is a major movie buff.'
Chanel's film activities are part of its overall communications budget, alongside its partnerships with the Paris Opera and the Palais Galliera, the French capital's fashion museum, Pavlovsky said. 'We create more impact today with film, dance and other cultural activities than in the cluttered media and advertising space,' he noted.
'We're not looking for a return on investment. We've been working with directors and actresses for years. They've had huge successes and lesser ones. It depends on the nature of the film: some are more niche, others more mainstream. For us, what matters is the general image they convey,' he added.
Chanel's ties with film have become both a brand trademark and a marketing tool, as with last year's short film in which Brad Pitt and Penélope Cruz reenacted scenes from Claude Lelouch's 1966 movie 'Un homme et une femme' ('A Man and a Woman'). Screened at the fall 2024 runway show, it was the springboard for a handbag campaign.
Pavlovsky happily noted that a still from the cult movie was used for the poster of this year's edition of the Cannes Film Festival. But rather than a vehicle for product placement, he sees Chanel's relationship with cinema as a long-term commitment.
'What I hope is that people who know the sector understand that it's a deep relationship over time, one of support and not appropriation of what cinema represents,' he said.
The efforts are not limited to any particular territory. Chanel supports initiatives worldwide, such as the Tokyo Lights education and mentorship program launched last year in collaboration with Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda.
It also backs the Atlas Workshops, an industry and talent-development program initiated in 2018 by the Marrakech International Film Festival, and recently inked a new partnership with the Venice Film Festival's Biennale College, a project dedicated to emerging filmmakers.
'It's important for us to be present in each of the major 'Chanel' countries to show that our interest is truly global, but cinema in China is very different from cinema in Japan, South Korea or the U.S.,' he said. 'It's always important to reflect the local culture and vision of film.'
With its current initiatives, Pavlovsky hopes to burnish the brand's myth for decades to come. 'People approach us all the time because of Chanel's association with iconic films of the past, but also of the present. That's the reason we have to continue investing today to create the icons of tomorrow,' he said.
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