Soko and Gia Coppola Unite for a Gucci-Filled New Music Video
Soko and Gia Coppola are a match made in heaven. The French singer and the Palo Alto director share a whimsical eclecticism and a knack for merging fashion and art. Though they run in the same circles and are both muses of Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, the two have never collaborated—until now. Today’s launch of the “Are You a Magician” music video brings the pair together for the first time, and the results are as chic as one would expect. Inspired in part by a Gucci cape from the 2019 resort collection and featuring an intricate dollhouse created by production designer Natalie Ziering, the clip immerses viewers in an ethereal world where the supernatural meets the everyday. Vogue caught up with the duo to talk chance meetings, inspirations, and turning your friends into creative collaborators.
When did you two first meet?
Gia: I don’t remember how we met! I think it was at a Gucci event? But I knew at the time Soko collaborated with my cousins Robert Schwartzman and Sam Spiegel.
Soko: I think I met Gia in Florence with her mom Jacqui at a Gucci event. I loved them both right away. I had heard so much about Gia throughout the years through our common friends who kept telling me that we should meet. I had seen her movie Palo Alto and I think she’s a brilliant director.
Why did “Are You a Magician” feel like the right project to collaborate on?
Gia: It was partly good timing but I also really dug this track and we were in line with the concept.
Soko: I had asked Gia so many times if she would be down to do a video, but she was working a lot. I was on a crazy deadline to put this new single out and assumed she wouldn’t have time, but she said she was just done with her movie, so it seemed appropriate to ask again—and here we are! I got lucky, and the lesson is never give up! Keep bugging your talented friends to collaborate with them until it magically falls into place!
The dollhouse concept used in the video is so unique. Where did that idea come from?
Gia: We were sitting in Soko’s son’s room. I had come over to visit. She played me the song and explained the inspiration behind the lyrics. She mentioned this idea of being in love with a doll and randomly grabbed one of her son’s toys for reference. I thought it was great and was excited to get creative and weird.
Soko: Gia came to visit, and we were sitting on my baby’s bed, listening to the song, and we both went: “I have an idea.” “What’s yours?” “No, say yours first.” “No, you!” It turned out all the images we had in mind were totally part of the same world and we could make it all work together. I imagined a story where I make a toy that I fall more and more in love with and try to turn it into a human-like Pinocchio, but I run out of magic tricks and I’m left with reality.
Given that the video is inspired in part by the cape that features in it, how did you approach the fashion onscreen?
Gia: We knew we wanted to involve the Gucci cape as an alternate magician persona. So we had a little lead time to think about letting the cape speak for itself, not dressing the background with anything more than a simple sparkly black fabric and playing more with lighting. Everything else was just playful and lived in whatever world we felt was instinctually right in the moment. We also had a stylist, Lindsay Hartman, who put a lot of thought into it.
Soko: I fell in love with that Gucci cape ages ago and knew I wanted to use it for the video, way before I even had any concept for it. I kept imagining that I could be this wild magician with a black crystal ball in the choruses when my voice gets deeper, and it feels like a different character trying to unveil the truth about the viability of this new fantasy love. The cape is so beautiful; it feels like it belongs in Fantasia. Gucci lent us so many beautiful outfits for the video, lots of glitter and tassels. We wanted all the colors to be vibrant and fun, and it’s exactly how I felt in all the looks we chose. I wanted to look like a Victorian goth Sailor Moon princess!
Now that you’ve seen the final product, what were your favorite parts?
Gia: I love the haunted dollhouse with the rave lights and the mini stuffed doll stuck in the side.
Soko: I love all the magician scenes; it was just so fun to shoot, although I inhaled way too many smoke bombs! I also love the shot of the puzzle.
Will this be an ongoing collaboration?
Gia: Sure! Soko’s the homie! I love her eye and ear and I’m always so fascinated and energized by what inspires her.
Soko: Gia is the dream director. She’s so thoughtful and thorough and a hard worker. It’s very easy to bounce ideas with her and so fun to witness her come up with all these incredible visual ideas. Taking me places I wouldn’t expect!
Photographed by Tori Time1/16
Photographed by Tori Time2/16
