Chanel exudes glamor, refinement in royal campaign

March 3, 2021

Charlotte Casiraghi’s first campaign with Chanel as a brand ambassador. Image credit: Chanel

French fashion house Chanel is conveying themes of modernity and sophistication with its spring/summer 2021 ready-to-wear campaign, starring Charlotte Casiraghi.

The brand’s newest ambassador and spokesperson, Ms. Casiraghi embodies the campaign through dreamlike imagery, shot by Dutch photographer duo Inez and Vinoodh. Paying homage to the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel produced part of the campaign at his former home in Monaco.

“[Mr. Lagerfeld] left a huge mark on the brand and I do not think that there is any intention of having his legacy leave the house,” said Kimmie Smith, cofounder and creative director of Athleisure Mag, New York. “People will always find the things that he touched and enjoyed to be iconic and of the moment due to his belief in keeping his world classic.

“The fact that [Ms. Casiraghi] was friends with Mr. Lagerfeld and was close to him due his friendship with her mother, Princess Caroline – it’s a full circle moment,” she said

Monaco style
In December 2020, Chanel announced Ms. Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and granddaughter of Grace Kelly, as the brand’s newest ambassador.

Solidifying a long relationship based on trust and friendship initiated by Mr. Lagerfeld and continued by current Chanel creative director Virginie Viard, Ms. Casiraghi officially began her professional relationship with the brand on Jan. 1 (see story).

Charlotte Casiraghi makes her campaign debut for Chanel

The Monaco royal has maintained a close relationship with the French brand her entire life, as her mother frequently wore designs by Mr. Lagerfeld. In 2012, Ms. Casiraghi was photographed by Mr. Lagerfeld for his book The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's Classic Revisited and then wore couture Chanel for her wedding in 2019.

For the ready-to-wear campaign, Chanel captured the glamor and elegance of Monaco, using the small principality as its backdrop.

“Charlotte has a mysterious quality, that emphasizes our play on the merging of reality and dream,” Inez and Vinoodh said of the campaign.

The film shows Ms. Casiraghi dressed in various pieces from the collection in settings ranging from elegant bedrooms to sunny swimming pools, during the day and night. In a nod to the brand’s former creative director, Chanel shot parts of the campaign at La Vigie, a villa near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin that was frequently rented by Mr. Lagerfeld.

In addition to the spring/summer campaign, Ms. Casiraghi has released the first episode of the “Les Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon” series, a project perpetuating Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s and Mr. Lagerfeld’s love for literature and women’s liberation.

For the first edition of the podcast, Ms. Casiraghi invited writer Sarah Chiche to discuss the life and work of Russian writer and psychoanalyst Lou Andreas-Salomé, accompanied by literature historian Fanny Arama.

Ms. Casiraghi has been a friend of the brand’s since she was a child, as her mother was close friends with Karl Lagerfeld. Image credit: Chanel

“One of the things about Chanel is the fact that it was born out of Gabrielle’s focus on women’s liberation and for them to live fully in their space,” Ms. Smith said. “Her designs allowed women to speak for themselves, and for them to operate through society and their daily lives in the ways that they wanted to.

“She did not want to be constrained by the norms that were set,” she said.

Empowering women
Similar to Chanel, many luxury brands have made conscious efforts toward the empowerment of women through fashion.

U.S. fashion label Carolina Herrera supports a coding nonprofit organization founded by the face of its Good Girl fragrances. Since 2015, supermodel Karlie Kloss has been creating learning experiences for young women interested in coding through Kode With Klossy.

By partnering with Kode With Klossy, Carolina Herrera highlights the importance of passion and education for young women. With the support of Carolina Herrera Good Girl, Kode With Klossy was able to provide nearly 1,000 scholarships to flagship summer programs (see story).

Swiss watchmaker Zenith highlighted visionary, independent women to support a special collection of timepieces. The watchmaker initially introduced the “Dreamhers” concept at the beginning of 2020 when it released its first collection exclusively for women.

The brand aimed to express the modern femininity of the versatile collection in a campaign shining light on relatable, yet accomplished, women who have paved their own paths and inspire others to do the same (see story).

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