Photo Credit: Walker Bunting - All Clothing Courtesy of Chanel
Lily-Rose Depp: a vision in pink, up-and-coming actress, and most of all - a model reinventing what an entire fashion house with just a snap of a lens.
Making her first public appearance in 2015 at the Chanel Métiers d'Art New York show in a brightly ensemble by the house, it seems as if Lily-Rose's public identity is intrinsically linked to Chanel. To be fair, her mother, the iconic multi-hyphenate Vanessa Paradis, was a frequent muse of Lagerfeld's - starring in multiple fragrance ads that wholly contributed to the liberation of her own femininity, and to this day continuing the represent the house.
Ever since that fateful show, Lily-Rose hasn't stopped her rise as a model, whilst staying faithful to her Chanel heritage. She's even seen the house change creative directors - growing up with Lagerfeld's (someone whose genius and familiarity she greatly admires) bold and larger-than-life idealism (a moment of contemplation for the Supermarket show), and coming into herself with Viard's more fairytale-esque, hyper-girly ensembles.
With her more recent work, specifically her spread for Elle Russia, Lily-Rose has done something extraordinary - singlehandedly taking the brand that invokes memories of houndstooth and tweed suits, shimmering bijouterie, and a familiarly fragrant, amber liquid and morphing its image with the sort of coolness that imitates a semblance of what the Supreme x Louis Vuitton collaboration achieved in terms of a cultural impact - only this time, hanging onto a bit of exclusivity. Whilst not yet being knocked off, she surely made her impact on social media, with thousands of younger people, potential future clients, raving about the photoshoot and her looks.
At an audience roundtable following the Haute Couture SS21 show, Lily-Rose comments on her feelings on seeing the Bride Dress, an iconic ending to every Chanel Haute Couture started by Lagerfeld, which she embodied in the SS18 show. She states “It is so emotional, and I think something that is unanimous that I’m hearing around this table is how you feel when you’re wearing these garments, and not only how beautiful they look, but how they make you feel when you’re wearing them.” And that's just it - perhaps the subtle genius of Lily-Rose's usage of Chanel isn't just in the clothes themselves, but the manner in which she wears them. Exhibited in the above pictures are all looks that on the runway, whilst masterfully constructed, fell just a bit short with the younger audience. However, when placed on the five foot five frame of one of the coolest, most angular faces in fashion, they become staple pieces in a wardrobe, the pieces that make you go "why don't I have that in my closet?" (addressed to that grey jumpsuit in the second to last image). It's a merge of trendy and traditionalist, making things that aren't cool by themselves seem like the must-have items of the season, taking Chanel out of the mindset of "wearing this will make me look more mature than I want" to "wearing this will make me look as cool as Lily-Rose Depp". And for that, for choosing someone who is not only one of the kindest and deserving people to be platformed, but someone who brings alive these meticulously crafted garments, in an effort to revive a household brand in need of a life preserver post-Lagerfeld, Chanel has my admiration and love.
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