Sofia Coppola celebrates the Chanel Cruise 2025/26 show with a film set in Lake Como
Chanel is bringing its Cruise 2025/26 show to the idyllic shores of Lake Como, Italy on April 29, 2025. To set the scene, the French fashion house tasked celebrated filmmaker Sofia Coppola to shoot a short film that captures the essence of the getaway destination notably backdropped by the French Alps.
Starred by model Ida Heiner, the dreamy, sun streaked cinematography by Coppola takes place at Villa d’Esta—Lake Como’s legendary hotel and a former Renaissance patrician residence built in 1568. Influenced by the director’s knack for depicting womanhood in a bona fide manner, Heiner traverses the set’s sumptuous marble staircases, opulent rooms and an ochre-toned terrace that overlooks the lake. Dressed in escapade-ready pieces from the upcoming Chanel Cruise 2025/26 collection, the moving images pause time, allowing us to reflect upon our ability to continually self-invent ourselves and bring our daydreams into fruition.
This notion of being able to discover new personas and identities through changing one’s environment has always grounded Chanel’s Cruise shows. It is believed that the French house’s founder Gabrielle Chanel pioneered luxury fashion’s embrace of resort wear when she decided to present her first Cruise collection outside of the typical seasonal fashion schedule in 1919. Before Northern Italy’s Lake Como, Chanel has also brought its sartorial universe to Dubai, Marseille, Monaco and Hong Kong.
Ahead of the full release of the film on April 30, 2025 at 2PM Paris time, Tatler talks to Coppola about the link between cinema and fashion as well as her own memories made in this charming destination.
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Behind the scenes of Sofia Coppola directing the Chanel Cruise 2025/26 film (Photo: Chanel)
Lake Como and the Villa d’Este have been the set of many films. What makes them the perfect décor for cinema?The Villa d’Este is such a beautiful and classic place with so much cinema history. It has the elegance of an Italian palace hotel from a past era that hasn’t changed, allowing you to step back in time. It’s such a stunning setting that you can’t help but stop and really take it all in.
What did you want to convey through the pictures you created for Chanel at Lake Como?The beauty of the place and the feelings that you have when you go to a classic grand hotel like: what it feels like to discover a kind of environment that is far from reality and day-to-day life. Time seems to stop and you can be a fantasy version of yourself or be in a life that you don’t usually have time for. You can slow down and just enjoy the setting and service.In Chanel Cruise shows, the collection is presented in a cinematic way, with dramatic backdrops and storytelling. What role do the clothes play in this strong visual context?The hotel is glamorous and makes you want to dress up and I feel like the Chanel Cruise collection—because it’s based around holidays—feels like that. It’s glamorous but also casual. For me, it’s about that version of yourself which may be different from what you are in your regular life.
Film still of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 teaser (Photo: Chanel)
Film still of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 teaser (Photo: Chanel)
Film still of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 teaser (Photo: Chanel)
Film still of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 teaser (Photo: Chanel)
Several Chanel collections have contributed to legendary scenes in cinema history, including Last Year at Marienbad (1961), Stolen Kisses (1968) and more recently, your own film Priscilla (2023). How do fashion shows relate to cinema?I think there’s an influence, a dialogue and they inspire each other. Villa d’Este feels like a film location, the setting of a story, and I think the models are characters who embody this idea of the Chanel woman on holiday in this refined part of Italy.
There has been a special fascination for Lake Como in American cinema. In your perspective, what makes this place so timelessly hypnotising? It’s so glamorous and really far from anywhere in the US. And, George Clooney having a house there adds to that! It has the glamour of classic Hollywood such as the boats and dressing up in a relaxed, elegant way. It makes me think of Grace Kelly and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).
You have an unique way of portraying life from the perspective of girls and young women. Could you tell us the story of the film and photos you imagined for Chanel at Lake Como?I put myself in the point of view of the woman discovering the place and I try to make the Chanel woman someone you can relate to—even if she’s a fantasy version—so you can be her, not just looking at her. That’s what I try to do. It’s more of a mood to introduce the show location and how it feels to be there and what kind of a persona you might put on for that place. It’s a fantasy life.
Behind the scenes of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 film by Sofia Coppola (Photo: Chanel)
Behind the scenes of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 film by Sofia Coppola (Photo: Chanel)
Behind the scenes of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 film by Sofia Coppola (Photo: Chanel)
Behind the scenes of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 film by Sofia Coppola (Photo: Chanel)
Behind the scenes of Chanel Cruise 2025/26 film by Sofia Coppola (Photo: Chanel)
Lake Como was a place dear to the legendary Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti. He was also a friend of Gabrielle Chanel. Have you ever imagined them together and how their friendship looked like?I think it’s cool that they were friends, of course, I have a lot of admiration for them both and it makes sense as creative people with a lot of culture and taste that they would like each other. It’s always interesting for me to discover all these sides of Coco Chanel.
One can see parallels between your cinematographic atmosphere and Visconti’s film Il Lavoro (1962) starring Romy Schneider who was dressed by, and also friends with, Gabrielle Chanel. Has this movie influenced you as a filmmaker?This film is one of my all-time favourite style moments. I would love her wardrobe in this. I love the whole attitude and how he shows something really refined in a casual way—her lying around the floor in a perfect Chanel suit or throwing on a gold lamé outfit with wet hair after the bath. It’s just the best to me! I wore a gold t-shirt dress in Venice last year that the couture atelier made me as an homage to her gold moment in that film. I love Romy Schneider in that film, she’s so kitten-ish and cute with something more complex beneath the surface.
It is easy to imagine colourful Italian family scenes in and around the majestic villas of Lake Como. How do you relate to this Romanesque idea of Italian families that we all share?It's very beautiful and inviting. You can imagine a long table on the terrace and even when we were shooting there we saw families—it was especially cute to see a table of young girls having lunch.I remember coming to Como with my daughter Romy when she was a toddler after I wrapped up filming Somewhere (2010) in Milan. I have nice memories of this time. Also, my family is from the South. So for me, the Northern Italians are aristocratic and Como is more exotic as an upscale place. It's not somewhere my family would ever have gone to. For me, it really feels like stepping into a fantasy.
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