Pharrell Williams wears Chanel necklaces and tweed jackets with confidence and panache. He walked the runway at the Ritz Paris for the French brand last month and once composed a song for a Karl Lagerfeld-directed Chanel film, crooning that he wanted to “see, see (CC) the world.”
Now the music star has landed his first handbag campaign, WWD has learned. Williams is to appear in advertising for Chanel’s new Gabrielle bag, recently photographed by Lagerfeld, who conceived the style.
The singer certainly has experience when it comes to accessories, particularly shoes. Williams put out a successful collaboration with Timberland — Bee Line x Timberland — which FN awarded with the 2015 Collaboration of the Year Award, and he also works with Adidas on his own apparel and shoes. His Adidas Hu NMD has been a sell-out style.
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The designer also conscripted three powerful women for the spots: Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne and Caroline de Maigret. It is understood the personalities were shot separately, not as a group, and that this is the first time a man has appeared in a Chanel handbag ad.
The brand is keeping the visuals under wraps until their debut on April 3, but confirmed the four guests of honor on Monday.
WWD had reported Nov. 3 that Stewart would appear in the Gabrielle campaign. A face of Chanel makeup, Stewart has appeared in fashion campaigns for Chanel’s Métiers d’Art collections and appeared in a movie Lagerfeld directed for his “Paris in Rome” effort in December 2015.
The designer also photographed Stewart for a handbag campaign in 2015 that featured Vanessa Paradis and Alice Dellal as well.
Delevingne and Williams have appeared together for Chanel in the past. The English model was featured in Lagerfeld’s short film that celebrated the Paris-Salzburg Métiers d’Art collection in 2014, in which he and Delevingne danced in the final scene.
Known for her androgynous, rock-tinged style, de Maigret started modeling for Chanel in the late Nineties and is now a brand ambassador. She also has a music label and is a producer, photographer and co-author of the book “How To Be Parisian: Wherever You Are.”
The Gabrielle bag was unveiled on Chanel’s spring runway — and it’s one of those simple yet ingenious designs at which Lagerfeld excels. The designer got the idea from looking at virtual reality goggles and upending the shape: Cue a flat-bottomed, neo-hobo with a double-chain handle that permits multiple carrying options. It can be worn as a shoulder bag, across the body or with the chain going over one shoulder and then diagonally across the other.
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