After two very difficult years under pandemic conditions, you just know that fashion is back because it’s trotting out the star power again. Indeed, a recent handbag campaign for Louis Vuitton featured Squid Game‘s HoYeon Yung, and another for Versace managed to get Gigi + Bella Hadid plus Emily Ratajkowski all on the same screen (with a special guest appearance by Donatella herself).
But the launch of a brand new Chanel bag demands nothing less than a glittering cast of ambassadors in front of the lens, and some very serious talent behind it. And so the storied French fashion house has just released three new film by exalted Dutch photographers Inez & Vinoodh, to hail the arrival of the 22 Bag, what is sure to be top of the list for stylistas all across the continents in 2022.
First, there’s Gossip Girl (HBO) revival star Whitney Peak, who is on a nighttime whirl around Brooklyn with friends, when they’re all suddenly wielding what appears to be some cross between a lightsaber and a glowstick – though thankfully no harrowing dual with Darth Vader is forthcoming. Then Margaret Qualley, the actress who moonlights as the singer Rainsford (and whose mom happens to be Andie MacDowell), is alone in the Palm Springs desert, trying hard to not think herself into anxiety. She offers us some excellent advice: “Remember that nature is where you feel whole, that when you’re struggling to find peace, you can slow down.” Uh huh.
But our fave is the Lily-Rose Depp clip, which is like an existential meditation on a day in the life in Los Angeles for the French-American model actress. Decked in full Chanel, we see that by afternoon she has “exercised, hydrated, and nutritionized.” (The narrator catches this and asks, “Nutritionzed? Hmm.”) After a day of happy solitude – swimming, rollerskating, still in Chanel – she climbs up to the Hollywood hills to catch another beautiful LA sunset. Perfection!
Inez & Vinoodh explain, “We were given the opportunity to create three completely different stories with three completely different women, and set out to create three stories that would show a lesser known side of each woman. Researching and diving into their worlds was very inspiring for us.”
Of course, inspiring to us is the thought of bringing our own new Chanel 22 Bag on our own upcoming adventures, even if they’re not being filmed by Inez & Vinoodh.
