Sofia Coppola on how a long history with Chanel has shaped her

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The video montage, In Homage to Mademoiselle, opens with a 1978 advertising spot of French actor Catherine Deneuve stating that “a woman is not all the time the same.” As Grimes’s Oblivion begins to play, images from the Chanel archive flick quickly across the screen: Coco Chanel pinning a couture piece on a model; Marilyn Monroe in bed with only a bottle of No. 5 perfume; celebrities Margot Robbie, Pharrell and Tilda Swinton sporting sparkling fine jewellery pieces. Created by director Sofia Coppola, the piece captured the history of the house for the Tokyo edition of its exhibition, Mademoiselle Privé, last fall.

In the film world, there is perhaps no one better equipped to take on the task of distilling decades of fashion history and iconography down to a spirited 2½ minutes. Coppola’s connection to Chanel began when she interned with its late designer, Karl Lagerfeld, as a teenager and she continues to feel a strong connection to the brand today. A favourite quote credited to Chanel herself, helps inspire her work as a filmmaker: “to achieve great things, you must dream and start with that.”

Read the full Style Advisor: April 2020 edition

On a rainy October afternoon in Tokyo, I popped open my umbrella and took Coppola for a walk through the city’s waterfront Tennoz neighbourhood. We talked about the impact of that internship, how she decides what collaborations to take on and the creative connection she feels between Coco, Karl and Chanel’s current artistic director, Virginie Viard.

Tell me about your earliest Chanel memory?

Going to Chanel to do an internship when I was 15 made a big impression on me. Being there, at the studio, as a teenager in the eighties, was an exciting moment. The models would come in in ripped jeans and Chanel jackets. I saw that and I thought that was just the best thing ever. I still like that look of wearing it in a casual way.

Were there things that you learned on your internship that you still incorporate into the way you work?

Seeing Karl work from the sketches to the final show made a big impression. Karl worked in so many different mediums. He did photos, he did the clothes and was always doing lots of projects all at the same time. In my life, I always felt like I didn’t have to pick one thing, that I could do side projects and different things. I was inspired by how he was so creative.

What’s your criteria for choosing who you collaborate with?

I feel like it’s important for me to like them and have a connection. It would be hard for me to choose something or work with someone that I didn’t feel a connection to.

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And when you were putting the In Homage to Mademoiselle video collage together, what did you connect to most?

I asked Chanel if they would just send me everything from their video archive. It was really fun to sit with my editor [Chad Sipkin] and go through and watch everything. I always loved Romy Schneider in the Visconti film [Boccaccio ‘70] – that would be my ideal Chanel moment. So I was happy we got to make a montage from all these moments and look through all the different shows.

Did you get a sense of how things have evolved by looking through all of it?

I feel like there’s a through line. I think that Coco Chanel had a good sense of humour and Karl was very playful. It’s cool to see how Virginie continues all the classic codes. I like the way she dresses and she seems more casual and cool about it. I think she makes it very wearable and she’s not precious, although you can tell she has a lot of respect for the heritage. It’s exciting to see how she continues since she knows it so well.

This interview had been condensed and edited.

The Globe and Mail Style Advisor travelled to Tokyo as a guest of Chanel. The company did not review or approve this article prior to publication.

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