Documentaries and films seem to be the next big thing for fashion houses to engage with their audiences during this period of staying at home. Celine‘s artistic director Hedi Slimane has curated a playlist of Hollywood classics like The 400 Blows (1959) and Night Tide (1961) to be streamed for free till May 31 on Mubi. Last week, Dior dropped its 57-minute-long documentary Designer Of Dreams as a way to bring its highly-successful exhibition of the same name in 2017 right into our homes.

So what’s Chanel’s contribution to the trend? Enter Episode 28: Gabrielle Chanel and the Cinema, the latest installment in the long-running Inside Chanel series of institutional videos that covers themes dear to the maison. This film belongs to a five-part segment in the entire series that seeks to examine Coco Chanel’s longstanding ties with the arts. It kicked off with Episode 27 which explored her connection to culture; upcoming episodes will delve into themes of dance, literature and poetry, and music in that order.

 

 

inside chanel

As for the 147-second-long Episode 28, expect to learn about Coco Chanel’s intersected path with cinema and how she saw the importance of the moving image to fashion. From planning the wardrobe of Gloria Swanson in the 1931 film Tonight Or Never to styling celebrities, Chanel mastered the art of understanding flattering fabrics and cuts for the big screen – though critics panned her brand of Parisian chic too simplistic. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood much?