Chanel was back to black inside the Grand Palais Éphémère with a runway that snaked through rooms against bursting blooms inspired by Villa Noailles in the South of France.
Blackpink’s Jennie contrasted in a fun, fuzzy vest and shorts combo.
“It’s a Barbie-looking outfit,” she said of her minuscule take on the suit. It had pink double Cs, a pink belt and a heart charm. “It’s a bit different than my other looks, but it’s cute.”
The K-pop star who just wrapped a world tour, spent the prior day catching up on some much-needed rest in her hotel room. She was bright and cheerful for Chanel’s early-morning show.
Jennie said this season’s collection with its bold florals and bright colors felt “carefree and liberating.”
Noting that Chanel creative director Virginie Viard is one of the few women to head up a fashion house, Jennie said that working with her is an inspiration.
“She represents a beautiful, strong, competent woman and it’s just so inspiring. And she always gives me such a good, lovely energy and tells me such sweet words,” she said. “And if you look at her collections, it’s so strong and delicate, so I love the contrast there. I just love her.”
Chanel also outfitted her for the Cannes premiere of “The Idol,” which premiered there last May. Jennie, who is on screen with her stage name Jennie Ruby Jane, reflected on the walking the red carpet for her first acting role.
“It was so much pressure on me because it was my very first time, but looking back I just loved what I wore. I loved my look; I loved the whole team that I was with. It was just a great experience,” she said. “I hope to get to do more in the future.”
It’s a little bit of a Chanel switcheroo with Jennie moving into acting, and Brie Larson taking up dance. She’s become obsessed with her ballet practice lately after taking it up seven months ago.
“I’m just so deep into it right now, all I care about is dancing,” she said. She does six hours of practice a day. “It’s been a surprise to me that it’s become so important, that I love it so much and that I have so much more I want to do with it.”
For all her stunt training as a superhero, dance training has put her more in touch with her body as she learns new moves, different strengths or reaching new heights, she said.
“I start to see changes and I’m surprised sometimes,” she said. “I didn’t do dance as a kid so I’m just learning what my body can do. As artist, I guess sometimes you get things stuck in your head and you just have to follow that. I don’t know where it is supposed to lead or what it means, but it’s been fabulous.”
In Paris, it led from the airport straight to the Chanel atelier and then the Opera Garnier, where she went to see a ballet Sunday night.
She went to her fitting first, where the Chanel staff presented her with a cake and sang to her. Then it was off to the ballet. “That’s what I wanted to do for my birthday. It was a triple bill and it was so beautiful — beautiful dancers, beautiful choreographers. It was so fabulous I cried.”
“What a day, my Chanel birthday,” she said.
Amandla Stenberg is coming up on the 25-year-old milestone mark, and said that she feels she is moving into a new phase of life.
“Recently I’ve been really interested in womanhood in a way that I identify with. Now, I find myself feeling so drawn toward understanding what it is to express myself as a grown woman, in terms of the way I carry myself,” the former child star said.
“It has to do with growing older. I’ve found myself wanting to emanate grace and femininity in a way that I never really cared about before.”
The actress is taking a break after spending six months in London working on the Star Wars universe series “The Acolyte.” During that down time she’s been working on music — but don’t ask about an album. She plays it as it goes.
“I’m never gonna promise that, ever,” she said, adding that while people keep asking for an album, it needs to be more of an organic process. “I don’t want anyone to even have an inclination that it’s gonna happen because then I’ll never do it.”
Stenberg said her mother always thrifted and found lots of vintage Chanel, and she has maintained that ethos and style. “I kind of don’t believe in buying new clothes,” she said. Her favorite coat is one that she thrifted, and she believes it’s also a special piece not just for its style but also its powers.
“I call it my Chronicles of Narnia coat,” she said. “It adjusts to whatever temperature I’m in. I think it’s magic.”
Penelope Cruz doesn’t need to go looking for vintage Chanel since her closet is full of decades of looks. The actress said she first joined the brand in 1999 and has kept many of her outfits over the decades, starting with Karl Lagerfeld’s works through Viard’s.
She praised Viard for taking the top spot after Lagerfeld’s passing. “It was something very hard to do. It was not a small thing to step into, and she has done an amazing job,” Cruz said.
The Chanel world feels like family after all these years. “And family is the most important thing to me,” she said, adding that she had spent the summer with aunts and uncles outside of Madrid.
Cruz said that she’s such a Chanel fan you could show her a photo of any collection and she could probably ID it immediately. Would she open a museum with all those vintage pieces hanging in the closet? “I would love to, but I don’t think I have enough — yet.”
Ariana DeBose had on a vintage-style piece that could have been straight out of Studio 54.
She played Donna Summer on Broadway a few years back, and said she learned some style lessons. “Everybody should dress like glitter and gold on Tuesday morning,” she said of her very slinky ensemble.
“This screams disco ’70s but is still 100 percent Chanel,” she said of the gold and sequined outfit.
DeBose had a viral moment earlier this year for her “Angela Basset did the thing,” lyric at the BAFTAs. The reaction was another lesson for the singer.
“Some days it’s really fun, and some days it’s overwhelming,” she said. She recently ran into Anne Hathaway, who accidentally said the song lyrics in conversation. “We shared a culture moment, and I’ll take it. It’s mine, for better or for worse, but I think it’s cool to be part of moments like that.”
“I learned a lot about myself and about the world. My capacity to withstand commentary — the threshold is pretty high,” she said.
She’s bounced back from the moment, and has been taking a break during the ongoing actors’ strike. The Writers’ Guild agreement is a bit of a glimmer. “I’m very hopeful that we can all get back to doing what we do best.”
“Back to Black” star Marisa Abela made her first fashion week show, ahead of the Amy Winehouse biopic release. The all-black interior was fitting. “It gives it a bit more of an edge, which is just cool to see the clothes shine in this space.”
Playing Winehouse was inspiring. “To play someone with such tenacity, it’s hard for that not to rub off on you,” she said. “But my number-one priority was always Amy. As long as I was taking care of her in that time, I’m happy.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m like the world’s most confident person, but being in a space full of such beauty I think it’s about being interested in what’s in front of you, rather than being too introspective. As long as I’m interested in the people around me, then I have confidence because I’m listening, I’m interested, I’m curious.”
“I’m just hopeful that everyone watches and enjoys and feels that we are celebrating the life of one of the most incredible, talented, ferocious women that ever existed. And that’s what the whole film is about — celebrating her.”
Chinese star Wang Yibo debuted a new bleach-blonde hairstyle with a white jacket for the show. He said he was a fan of the set, which was arranged like a house and decorated in large florals. “Looking outside the windows, it’s like a painting. Collectively they look like still films. I like the clash of colors.”
He planned to take in the architecture and make the most of his Paris experience with the country’s most famous beverage. He added: “French red wine is very tasty.”
— With contributions from Tianwei Zhang