Chanel presents a jet-set cruise collection on Lake Como

For its final fashion show before Matthieu Blazy takes over as creative director at Chanel next October, the in-house studio has set its sights on Villa d’Este, the legendary hotel nestled at the foot of Lake Como. A very cinematic resort location, both discreet and elegant, perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the collection.

Chanel has chosen a fully scripted approach for its Cruise 2026 show, with a cinematic teaser entrusted to director Sofia Coppola.

While the show took place on April 29 on the terrace of the Villa d’Este hotel, on the opaline shores of Lake Como, the general public had to wait until the following day to view it on the brand’s website and social media, minus the adrenaline rush of the live event.

The discreet, sunny and light collection draws its inspiration from Gabrielle Chanel’s historic relationship with Italy, particularly her stays at the Villa Erba of filmmaker Luchino Visconti’s parents in the 1930s, located in the same town of Cernobbio.

An ode to cinema

To announce the change of creative era and get in tune with the arrival of a season dedicated to the seventh art, notably with the Cannes Film Festival starting on Tuesday, May 13, Chanel has chosen to turn to two filmmakers with international appeal.

The first, the highly aristocratic Luchino Visconti, director of The Gattopardo, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1963, created maximalist characters who refused to compromise, refusing to choose between mad love and material comfort. The parents of this great friend of Coco Chanel and Jean Cocteau owned Villa Erba on the shores of Lake Como. In fact, some of the silhouettes are reminiscent of the Chanel outfits worn by Romy Schneider in Boccace 70 (1962), particularly in Act II, entitled Il Lavoro (Work), the story of a betrayed woman determined to take her revenge, directed by the filmmaker.

The second, the most French of Americans, Sofia Coppola, director of Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette, about “poor little rich girls” suffering from melancholy and loneliness, was entrusted with a 48-second short film to set the scene and atmosphere for the show.

We see a blonde woman who we suspect is American – reminiscent of Elle Fanning in Sofia Coppola’s film Somewhere – walking from the staircase to the bedroom before heading out onto the terrace. In this story, she doesn’t forget to wear ballet flats, a bag, sunglasses, and white tweed, all of which are stylistic codes dear to the House, against a backdrop of ballet-like wooden boats by Riva.

The mini-film offers a glimpse of life at the hotel in a setting that is not only idyllic but above all “an island of beauty sheltered from the noise of the world,” as the press release states.

To give the event its star-studded dimension, the front row welcomed many friends of the House, from Keira Knightley to Caroline De Maigret, Beatrice Grannó, Margaret Qualley, and Joan Thiele. Director Sofia Coppola was of course in attendance, as was Mexican-Kenyan-American actress and director Lupita Nyong’o.