Celebrating a century of inspiration, Virginie Viard reimagined the Grand Palais as the enigmatic gardens of the Villa Noailles for Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2024 show last September.
A breathtaking structure in Hyères along the Mediterranean coast, the home holds a deep relationship with the French house that dates back to its origins in the 1920s. It was designed by Robert Mallet-Stevens for Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles and has transpired to become an icon of modernist architecture and a sanctuary for artists to converge upon.
Having long been a place of inspiration and kindred vision, Viard’s reverence for Villa Noailles’ enduring design, one that defies conventional beach abodes and, even one hundred years since its conception, still stands as a radical construct, took shape in the house’s most recent collection. An ode to the liberty of arts and the creatively uninhibited, Spring/Summer 2024 is now realised where it started: the gardens and rooms of Villa Noailles.
Starring the brand’s newest ambassador, actress and director Riley Keough, and long-time house model Rianne Van Rompaey, Chanel again worked with its go-to collaborators Inez & Vinoodh for the SS24 campaign.
Calling upon the serene beauty and clean lines of the sprawling estate, the shoot features Keough and Van Rompaey luxuriating in pieces from the collection amongst the eclectic setting that inspired it.
Those who caught the show last will remember fluidity as a defining theme. And with these captivating tableaus, we see these designs as they were meant to be showcased, with the villa’s influence evidenced across all aspects of the fashion. From its graphic checks and bold stripes as a nod to the modernist lines of the architecture and the famous cubist checkered garden to the prints and intricate embroidery that celebrate the vibrant florals that rest bountifully amongst the grounds.
In the legendary pink room, Van Rompaey wears a matching neoprene jacket and trousers in rich rose, orange, blue and red tones. Rendered in prints, iterations of the double ‘C’ motif dance amongst bold florals. In the garden, the model wears three ensembles: a cotton-lace coat with multi-coloured painted florals and jewelled buttons paired with matching trousers and ornate jewellery; a skirt suit in white sequined guipure lace; and a graphic striped belted cardigan in pastel-hued cotton, matched with a checked gilet in pink and black wool tweed, and checked bermuda shorts in black.
Inside, Keough wears various sparkling accessories, including rings and cuffs, while outside, she wears a floral dress with a matching cape in cotton lace, a jacket and skirt in black sequined guipure lace over a crisp white swimsuit befitting the villa’s famous pool, and a striped terrycloth jacket in joyful hues of pink, black, blue, yellow and green.
With breezy fabrications, clashing prints, floral motifs and geometric contrast, the paradoxical lightness and complexity of the Southern locale were diligently embodied.
Sharing her feelings around this partnership, Keough is beside herself.
“I have loved Chanel since I was a little girl,” she says. “The allure of Chanel was very present in my household growing up, [so], to now represent the House is an honour… To me, the Chanel woman represents so many things—sophistication, elegance, artistry, bold integrity.”
Van Rompaey echoed Keough’s sentiment.
“It is an honour to be a part of the Chanel family in this way,” Van Rompaey says, looking back on her work with the house over the years. “We work in an industry that moves quickly and is constantly changing, so to be able to grow in a relationship and tell a story that is bigger than one season is a true joy for me.”
Each look and image conveys a sense of elegance, freedom and effortless luxury. Both Van Rompaey and Keough wholly embody the ethos of the Villa Noailles and its famous inhabitants, enlivening the space with Chane’s signature joie de vivre.
To go behind the scenes of the visual journey, GRAZIA exclusively shares imagery from the making of CHANEL’s latest campaign.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.