The histories of CHANEL and the villa Noailles, in Hyères, South of France, are closely and poignantly entwined, cemented across a century through friendship, patronage and shared passion for art and craft.

It is fitting then that this season’s campaign, photographed by frequent CHANEL collaborators Inez & Vinoodh, was created in the garden and pink room of the villa. In the images, the house becomes a second home for CHANEL, a site of both relaxation and celebration.

“The images echo the architecture of the villa, playing with the contrast of the interior and the exterior, with transparency and opaqueness, and with the idea of the artistic and eccentric women that spent time there in the past,” explain Inez & Vinoodh. “The walled garden with its cut-out windows, and the pink living room – as a warm cocoon – felt like the perfect environment for Virginie Viard’s women to roam in, sometimes moody and mysterious and other moments bathed in sunshine.”

Two Houses: CHANEL and the villa Noailles

Designed in 1923 by Robert Mallet-Stevens for Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, the villa is renowned both as an icon of modernist architecture – a South-facing haven of light and verdant vistas – and for its esteemed cultural program, including the International Festival of Fashion, Photography and Accessories, Hyères.

The relationship dates back to the earliest days of both the villa and CHANEL. Dynamic art collectors, Charles and Marie-Laure amassed work by numerous avant-garde artists from all disciplines, and from the 1920s onwards, Marie-Laure regularly appeared in Gabrielle Chanel’s Haute Couture creations. The trio shared the same taste for modernity and curiosity, and gathered a social circle that included Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Igor Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau and Man Ray.

The year 2023 marks the centenary of the start of the Villa Noailles’ construction, and Virginie Viard and CHANEL have solidified their close ties to this remarkable space, both through increased support for its cultural endeavours, and through the CHANEL Spring-Summer 2024 Ready-to-Wear collection and campaign themselves, which pay homage not just to the architecture and grounds but also to the special spirit that makes this villa so iconic.

A Family: Rianne Van Rompaey and Riley Keough

Created in this exquisite home, the images celebrate an ethos of family, friendship and creative exchange by featuring two women who are naturally connected to CHANEL: long-term CHANEL model Rianne Van Rompaey, who has appeared in numerous images for the House, and the acclaimed actress, director and producer Riley Keough, CHANEL’s new ambassador.

“I have loved Chanel since I was a little girl,” says Riley Keough. “The allure of Chanel was very present in my household growing up. To now represent the House is an honour. It is the most elegant and inspiring House. To me, the Chanel woman represents so many things – sophistication, elegance, artistry, bold integrity.”

Loyal to the House for the last ten years, Riley Keough has worn designs by CHANEL at various prestigious events, including the Golden Globes ceremony in 2017. Riley Keough has been nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in “Daisy Jones and the Six” and has received widespread acclaim for appearances in “The Girlfriend Experience,” “Zola”, and “American Honey”. Her directorial debut “War Pony”, won the Caméra d’Or award at the Cannes Festival.

“It is an honour to be a part of the Chanel family in this way,” tells Rianne Van Rompaey. “We work in an industry that moves quickly and is constantly changing, so to be able to grow in a relationship and tell a story that is bigger than one season is a true joy for me.”

The Villa in Pictures

Awash with both sun and moon-light, the images highlight the unique beauty of the villa Noailles and its terraced gardens, which frame the surrounding countryside like pictures. We see a whole day, from morning leisure through to night freedoms. The same plays on light and colour, on geometry and asymmetry, repose and vigour, that gave rhythm to the Spring-Summer 2024 Ready-to-Wear collection also define these images. The villa’s heritage as a site of creative partnership is echoed in the committed and thriving friendship between CHANEL and Inez & Vinoodh.

“I am so inspired by Virginie and the artistic community around Chanel,” Riley Keough adds. “The villa Noailles was an avant-garde meeting place for artists to come and spend time amongst one another, liberated from constraint and emancipated from structure. This is the feeling that I believe also exists within Chanel. So, it felt very fitting that this place inspired the collection.”

“It’s incredible to be in a space so imbedded in the history of modern art. You can feel that it’s built to inspire, and to be able to create something new in this space where so many artists came before, is really special,” says Rianne Van Rompaey. “I’m inspired by Marie-Laure de Noailles’ story. I love how she was fearless with her support of the artists she believed in, no matter the controversy. You can sense her strength and conviction throughout her life story. And she had the best taste. What a woman!”

The Villa in the Collection

The staging of the campaign in the villa Noailles marks a perfect culmination of a collection deeply inspired by this inimitable space. One sees the villa’s influence across all aspects of the fashion within the campaign: the graphic stripes nod to the modernist lines of the architecture and the famous cubist checkered garden, while the prints and embroidery celebrate the vibrant florals that are so bountiful amongst the grounds.

In the pink room, Rianne Van Rompaey wears a matching neoprene jacket and trousers in rich tones of rose, orange, blue and red. Awash with print, they see the iconic double C motif dance amongst bold florals. In the garden, she wears three ensembles: a cotton-lace coat with multi-coloured painted florals and jewelled buttons, paired with matching trousers and ornate jewellery; a skirt suit in white sequined guipure lace; and a graphic striped belted cardigan in pastel-hued cotton, matched with a checked gilet in pink and black wool tweed, and checked bermuda shorts in black.

Inside, Riley Keough wears various sparkling accessories, including rings and cuffs, while outside she wears a floral dress with a matching cape in fantasy cotton lace; a jacket and skirt in black sequined guipure lace, over a crisp white swimsuit, nodding to the villa’s famous pool; and a striped terrycloth jacket in cheerful hues of pink, black, blue, yellow and green.

Each look, and each image, conveys a sense of elegance, nonchalance and freedom. And both Van Rompaey and Keough perfectly channel the ethos of the villa Noailles and its former inhabitants, enlivening the space with confidence, conviction, insouciance, and joie de vivre.

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