Sofia Coppola has often thought that if she weren’t a filmmaker, she’d want to be the editor-in-chief of a magazine—or at least her own zine. The Oscar-winning auteur’s favorite way to unwind after a long day on set is by cutting out her favorite photographs from fashion magazines and making mood boards, her office floor often blanketed with reference images for whatever she’s working on at the moment. Coppola managed to scratch that editorial itch when she assembled last year’s Archive, a 500-page tribute to her first 25 years as a filmmaker, from 1999’s The Virgin Suicides up to 2023’s Priscilla. Filled with behind-the-scenes shots, script pages, and collages, the book became an instant best-seller and left Coppola eager to do it all over again.
“I just really love putting a layout together,” she tells Vogue. “Photo books have always been so important to my creative process, so I thought it could be fun to have a hand in making some more.”
Now, Coppola has partnered with Mack, the UK-based publisher behind Archive, to launch her own imprint: Important Flowers. Its first offering arrives in April with The Virgin Suicides, a collection of photographs by British fashion photographer Corinne Day from the set of Coppola’s first film. While snaps from Day’s time on set quickly became sacred to virtually anyone with a Tumblr account in 2011, Coppola only recently discovered a box filled with the entirety of Day’s negatives—many of them never before seen—while digging through her storage units for Archive. She included some of Day’s photos in that book, but there were so many that Coppola immediately thought they could comprise their own.
“I’m such a massive fan, so I was happy I got to meet her and be friends with her,” Coppola says of Day, who died in 2010. “This book is really a tribute to her and a chance to share all these wonderful photos with people who might not be familiar with her work.”
Then, next September, Important Flowers will publish Chanel Haute Couture, a nearly 500-page visual history of the famed Parisian fashion house. Coppola interned at the Chanel atelier under Karl Lagerfeld when she was 15, and has had a relationship with the brand ever since—just last year, Chanel’s team made the wedding dress that Cailee Spaeny’s character wears in Priscilla. Pitched as a “high-fashion scrapbook” overflowing with never-before-seen polaroids, runway shots, and original images taken by Coppola, Chanel Haute Couture is a fashion lover’s dream.
“I only wanna put out books that I would want to give to someone,” she says. “There’s a lot of heart in these because they’re subjects I care about so much.”
And Coppola isn’t stopping there. One of the first things she asked Mack when they formed the imprint was if she could design her dream planner. Available for pre-order now, the Important Flowers planner is available in two shades (pale pink and baby blue) and features designated spaces for movies you want to watch, hotels you want to visit, and other uniquely Coppola touches.
Down the line, she wants to publish books that support emerging photographers, and potentially even reprint favorite references that are no longer in circulation. For now, however, she’s just focused on launching the Virgin Suicides book, the release of which will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the film’s theatrical release. Coppola is even thinking of hosting some special screenings with the film’s star—and her dear friend—Kirsten Dunst, if she can figure out the details. “I always feel like I wanna do a million things at once,” Coppola says. “The other day, I asked the Mack team if we could make wrapping paper!”
The filmmaker recently caught up with Vogue to discuss what her imprint has in store, 25 years of The Virgin Suicides, and getting back into writing her next film.
Vogue: Congratulations on your new imprint! What’s the story behind the name Important Flowers?
Sofia Coppola: A friend of mine said it while we were talking about big flower arrangements once—the type of big, high-society hostess flowers from the ‘80s. I did a photo shoot with a lot of those big flower arrangements and he said, “Oh, I love important flowers.”
Flowers with some heft.
Exactly. I just love flower arrangements that are big enough to refer to as “important.”
Talk me through how this collaboration with Mack came together.
I loved working on my book for Mack with Joseph Logan, who’s a designer that I’ve been friends with from way back when I was shooting Marie Antoinette in Paris. He worked at French Vogue at that time and we bonded as Americans in Paris. It was so much fun to reconnect with him and work on my book together that he said. “Let’s do more!” I had found all these wonderful photos that Corinne Day took on the set of The Virgin Suicides. There were so many negatives that I immediately thought they could be a book of their own.
I feel like Corinne’s style is so influential, but her name isn’t quite as well-known as it perhaps should be. Especially given how enduring her photos from the set of The Virgin Suicides are.
I can’t think of any other women from that school of London photographers who shot for magazines like The Face—it was David Sims, Juergen Teller, and Corinne. I really connected to her photos and her approach to girlhood and shooting her subjects in such a natural, stripped-down way. I was such a fan of Corinne’s so I was so happy I got to meet her and be friends with her. This book is really a tribute to her and a chance to share all these wonderful photos that she took.
There were already so many iconic BTS photos from The Virgin Suicides circulating on the internet. Did you know there were more floating around somewhere?
I remember Corinne spending a lot of time on set and taking so many photos, so seeing them altogether was really exciting for me. It just brings back memories of that time. They really capture the feeling of the film and are such a great introduction to her photography and her point of view.
Major studios will usually hire a set photographer to capture some press stills, but The Virgin Suicides was an indie and I understand you really had to stretch your budget. Why was it important for you to have Corinne there documenting the shoot?
I remember Mary Ellen Mark taking photos on the set of Apocalypse Now when I was a kid, so I knew you could invite a photographer to set. I’ve just always been a photography fan and I thought it would be cool to ask her to come. We were extremely low-budget so I don’t know how we pulled it off, but my producers helped figure it out so we could invite her.
Did you have any prior relationship with Corinne when you reached out?
No—I initially reached out as a fan. She photographed me later and we would hang out whenever I came to London. But I met her through The Virgin Suicides and was really happy when she agreed to come hang. I think it was fun for her to do something different, because she’d never been on a film set before. She kinda blended in perfectly since she looked like one of the Lisbon sisters.
Did you establish any boundaries, or did she have free reign of the set?
It’s tricky when you’re working with a crew and can’t get in the way, but you also wanna get the shot. I’ve found that when I shoot on a set, it’s extremely hard. You have to be kinda stealthy to be able to capture details and not call a lot of attention to yourself. Corinne was the perfect person for the job since she was so low-key. She just went around and took photos with whoever wasn’t busy at the moment. I loved the way she captured all the details of the production, like the shots of their feet. It was interesting to look through all the proof sheets and be able to follow her eye and see what she focused on. She had such a beautiful point of view.
Was it an emotional experience to see all these photos again and relive those memories?
They bring back so many good memories. There are so many I especially love of Kirsten. It’s always special for me to remember her at that moment in time. I have one of the photos from the book hanging in my house. It’s one of the first things I see whenever I come home and it’s one of my favorite photos—the one where she’s lying on a lounge chair. I just love the combination of Corinne’s eye and the way Kirsten embodies that character. It brings back nice memories of us all being in Toronto that summer, where everyone had this “all hands on deck” energy to help me make the movie I wanted to make.
Are there any other plans to celebrate 25 years of The Virgin Suicides this spring?
I thought it might be nice to do some screenings around the book release. A lot of younger people continue to tell me how important that movie was to them. Kirsten and I would be up for some Q&As, if anyone is interested, but I don’t really know. I’m mostly excited to get these photos out to the world.
Next year you’re also releasing Chanel Haute Couture. How did you pitch your vision for the book?
It’s not in any chronological order, but covers the beginning of Chanel’s history all the way from Coco to Karl to Virginie. I like the idea of not treating couture with such an academic attitude, because a lot of times these books treat fashion like it only belongs on mannequins or in a museum. The idea was to show how Chanel was worn by all these fabulous women at a gala or a wedding or in movies. I wanted to show people like Lynn Wyatt, who’s this Texas society woman with a massive Chanel collection. It’s fun to see how these clothes are actually worn in real life.
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If not chronologically, how did you sort through what to include and where to place it?
It’s structured by moods and themes. It kept growing and I had to keep asking Mack if we could add more pages. There are so many incredible photos by Richard Avedon and Steven Meisel that I can’t wait for new generations to discover. I wanted it to feel fun and full of inspiration but also show a peek inside the house and how some of these garments actually get made. The regular cover is a beautiful metallic gold, but I’m trying to do a version where we run a few limited-edition copies bound in the actual Chanel couture tweed.
What was your process like in terms of visual research?
It involved a bit of detective work. Chanel definitely had a lot—I got to go in the room where they keep all the couture fabrics and pick some to photograph, which was such a thrill to see. I’d been in the atelier before, but I got to really explore the space and take detailed photos. I went to see Odile Gilbert, who did the hair for a lot of Karl’s shows then did Kirsten’s hair for Marie Antoinette. She brought out all these boxes with everything that she’s saved from her time with Chanel over the years. I spent hours going through boxes of old invitations, Karl’s sketches, polaroids of the hair.
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The book also highlights some of Chanel’s iconic moments in film—although I noticed it was missing the wedding dress for Priscilla!
Do you think we should put that in? I didn’t wanna put in too many of my movies. But Coco Chanel had relationships with so many filmmakers, and now they have a whole division to support films that did the wedding dress for Priscilla. My favorite film fashion moment of all time is in the [Luchino] Visconti film The Job [from Boccaccio ’70]. Coco Chanel dressed Romy Schneider and there’s a shot in the book where she’s lying on the floor in a Chanel suit with a record player.
The book opens with a passage you wrote about your time interning at Chanel in Paris when you were 15. Were you already interested in fashion, or was that internship a turning point?
I was interested in fashion from a young age, but that experience made a huge impression on me. My parents were friends with the actress Carole Bouquet, who worked with Chanel at the time, and they asked if she could set something up. At that time, I think it was unusual for younger children to be really into fashion, but my parents always encouraged that aspect of my personality. Fashion was my escape, and it still is.
What are some memories that come to mind when you think back on that summer in Paris?
I remember doing a photo shoot in a big white dress at the atelier. I had just turned 15 and all the workers were buzzing around in white coats. I remember being nervous that it was gonna be really strict and stuffy, but it was the exact opposite. It was all these cool Parisian girls who all took me in and made me feel like I was a part of their big couture family. Victoire de Castellane did all the jewelry at that time and she was so fun. There were always trays of jewelry sitting around and they were always doing fittings with different models. I remember seeing Veronica Webb walk around the atelier in ripped jeans and a Chanel jacket, which is still one of my favorite looks of all time.
Do you have a particular favorite Karl memory from that period?
Karl was always so sweet to me. I was a very awkward kid and one time I tripped over the phone cord while he was using it. I thought he was gonna yell at me, but he was so nice about it. He sorta took me under his wing and always made me feel like I belonged. He gave flowers to all the interns at the end of our time there, and when you’re 15, getting a huge, beautiful bouquet of roses is the most special thing in the world. As a kid, I could never quite decide what I wanted to do, so I was really inspired to see the way he did everything—from photography to design to publishing books.
Never forget his iconic diet book, The Karl Lagerfeld Diet.
Oh my God, I forgot about that. His career took so many fascinating directions. You could see how restlessly creative he was and I can relate to that. I always feel like I wanna do a million things at once. It was inspiring to see that you could do lots of different things that were also all related in a tangential way.
Before you go, I have to say how much I love that Important Flowers is releasing a paper planner.
That makes me so happy because I can’t function without mine. I have to see my week visually, on paper—and it has to be horizontal. One of the first things I asked Mack was if I could make a planner exactly how I’ve always wanted to make one, and on really pretty paper.
What do you think a planner should ideally look like?
I used one from Moleskin but it felt slightly serious. And there were pages between the weeks, which really threw me off. This one from my imprint is my ideal planner. It has a little section in the back to keep notes of movies you wanna see and hotels you wanna stay at. I don’t know how many people will like it, but a planner is something that you use every day, so I thought it should look and feel beautiful.
Do you have other ideas for what you’d like your imprint to publish down the line?
Nothing quite tangible yet. I love flipping through old magazines and looking at all the old advertisements, so Joseph and I have talked about doing a book of vintage ads from the ’70s and ’80s.
Important Flowers aside, are you working on anything else at the moment?
I am in the very early stages of something, but I got distracted with making books. One of my goals for the new year is to get back to writing.
Even if you can’t tell me any details, do you have a general idea of what you think you want your next movie to be?
I do. I have the beginning figured out, but I don’t quite know where it’s going yet and if it’ll turn into something. But I’m excited about it.
When we spoke for the anniversary of Marie Antoinette, you mentioned that your mother shot over 120 hours of BTS footage. I’m curious if you’ve sorted through much of that, and whether you might ever turn it into a documentary?
We’re just getting started on that and trying to sort through that footage. I’ve only looked at a little bit of it, but so much of it is focused on the costumes and the flowers and the food and the sets. I’m trying to shape it into something tangible. I just hope the footage isn’t too embarrassing. There’s a lot of me at work, but it’s mostly about the costumes and how it feels to be on set. I’m hoping we can maybe get that ready for the next anniversary, in 2026.
I know you also took photos yourself and had photographers on the sets of Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette—would you ever release individual books about those films?
I’m not sure about that, I don’t want our imprint to just be all about me. I know A24 is doing one of their script books for Priscilla. My friend Andrew Durham took all the photos on the set of Marie Antoinette, and he’s putting a book together for 2026, when that movie turns 20. I wanna focus on making books with emerging photographers that I like and wanna support. And maybe even reprint some old books I love that are out of print now.
When we spoke for the anniversary of The Virgin Suicides, you mentioned a photo book by Bill Owens that was a big influence on you…
Suburbia! I love that book so much. Is it out of print?
Yeah, for quite some time now. Maybe that could be your first reprint?
That’s a really good idea. I just had some funky paperback copy of it that I would always look through. I got a print of his at a photo fair a long time ago that was my reference for the dance scene in The Virgin Suicides. I’ve always loved those photos. And I always think that if you like something, there’s probably someone else who would like it too. I’m going to look into that—see, this is why it’s so fun to have an imprint!
This conversation has been edited and condensed.