In Venice, Chanel Fêtes Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla
Sofia Coppola s latest film, Priscilla, received an 8-minute ovation after its premiere at the 80th Venice Film Festival Monday night. And though it s not set to screen in the US for another month, the film is already on track to be the fashion-lovers must-see of the year. As with Marie-Antoinette, the movie s other themes–coming of age, celebrity (and its flipside), loneliness, the secret dynamics behind a legend—will likely spark conversation for months to come.
Who we are—and what we become—through fashion was an anchor throughout the shoot, said Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny, who recounted shooting out of sequence and in just 30 days.
"Sometimes it was really hard to keep track of where the character was in the story, and there were more costume changes than script pages, so the fashion was the grounding piece," she said. "The thing that’s so great about Sofia is that she knows exactly what she wants, she s got such an eye—and that goes all the way down to the details of clothes." (Yes, the actor got to keep some of her favorite jeans, blouses and cashmere sweaters).
For Chanel, the fashion partner in an ever-expanding galaxy of film festivals and institutions—and whose ties to the seventh art date back nearly as far as Gabrielle Chanel s passion for Venice—the film is also more meta than one might expect.
In addition to dressing the film’s director and its lead (Presley’s iconic bridal gown was reimagined by Virginie Viard and produced thanks to the joint expertise of the Haute Couture and Métiers d Art ateliers), the connections between Chanel, Elvis, and Coppola run deep. And on top of the house s decades-long friendship with Coppola—who interned with Karl Lagerfeld in the late ’80s and is now a house Ambassador—Chanel finds itself not just a partner of the film, but a player in the real-life narrative. Chanel’s legendary n°5 perfume appears onscreen at Graceland in a scene of Presley’s 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me.
On Tuesday, Chanel welcomed Coppola, Presley, and a handful of guests including Tilda Swinton, White Lotus star Beatrice Grannò, 2023 Silver Ribbon award nominee Linda Caridi, Elodie Bouchez, Fotini Peluso, Mia Hansen-Løve, Benicio del Toro, and Wes Anderson to an intimate dinner in honor of Priscilla at Harry s Bar. Presley turned heads and conversation swirled over Bellinis, shrimp carpaccio, and pasta ragu about her journey as reflected in film and fashion.
"I ve always loved fashion, but I didn t even realize about n°5 until I looked it up and realized that Chanel was this unbelievable designer," Presley offered. "Those were the baby steps I took to fashion. I was never looking for what was on-trend; I wanted something that I felt comfortable in and that was my own style. I kind of got known for that." Of the film s sartorial arc, she added, "I learned a lot from Elvis, and what he learned from doing movies, and then I started to become comfortable in my own choices."
Her wedding gown, too, has a backstory that would be all but impossible to pull off in the era of social media. "We wanted our wedding to be ours, and not a [circus], so I covered up and went on a hunt for a dress and I took Charlie Hodge, one of Elvis s Memphis mafia, with me as my pretend fiancé," Presley recalled. "I found one that I loved, that was simple—I didn t want extravagant. I was so young; I wanted everything to be so perfect, and everything had to be so secret."
As to coping with celebrity, she offered: "Fame has always been a bit difficult for me because I m very private. It s a lot to live by; it s hard to embrace because the expectations are so high. You wind up going places where no one knows you, or else they are very discreet. I learned that from Elvis, and I do it even now."
For Coppola, revisiting Sixties-era Memphis was a highlight. "I love all the reference photos of Priscilla, and how people dressed up at the time, with the shoes that matched the bag. A big part of it was the sets and the costumes, and [Spaeny s] evolution from a 14-year-old to a 29-year-old. [Costume designer] Stacey Battat just did an amazing job with where the characters are, emotionally, with palette changes as she goes from winter in Germany to vibrant Memphis, or when she kind of defiantly wears print."
The Chanel influence even permeated the set, she added.
"When I started making films, Karl Lagerfeld was really kind and encouraging, and that meant a lot to me because I d known him since I was a kid," she said. "He had so many creative people around him, and he did so many things in so many creative outlets—the way his whole team worked together from his drawing to the final show really made an impression on me; Chanel had this real family atmosphere. Virginie continues that today: it s exciting to walk into the studio and be a part of it, and that s something I also try to do on my sets."
To that end, NYFW is set to lift the curtain on Coppola s world a little more: the filmmaker s first book, Archive, which retraces her methods, references, and never-before-published behind-the-scenes pictures spanning Virgin Suicides (1999) to Priscilla, will launch officially next week.
Courtesy of CHANEL1/23Fotini Peluso
Courtesy of CHANEL2/23Magaajyia Silberfeld