The Cult of Chanel in 15 Fantastical Images From the W Archives
Season after season, it feels like the Chanel signatures never change, they’re only tweaked and twisted just a little: The tweed, the jackets, the trousers, the bags, they’re still very much alive in the Chanel obsessive’s imagination—even if today, on Coco Chanel‘s birthday, they’re presented on the likes of Kaia Gerber and young Hudson Kroenig in magical settings conjured up by Karl Lagerfeld in the middle of Paris. And nor do they need to change much. Chanel fans are a bit cultish, like Deadheads, as the critic Robin Givhan referred to them—they keep coming back for the greatest hits. And in these pictures from the W archives, we’ve made their fantasies come true, modeled by the likes of Tilda Swinton, Janet Jackson, Gisele, Kate, Jourdun Dunn, Dakota and Elle Fanning, and more.
1
Elle and Dakota Fanning photographed by Mario Sorrenti for W Magazine, December 2011.
2
Photograph by Tim Walker for W Magazine, December/January 2014/15.
3
Photograph by Alasdair McLellan for W Magazine, October 2017.
4
Janet Jackson photographed by Michael Thompson for W Magazine, October 2006.
5
Photograph by Steven Klein for W Magazine, August 2009.
6
Kate Hudson photographed by Michael Thompson for W Magazine, 2005.
7
Photograph by Paolo Roversi for W Magazine, October 2006.
8
Photograph by Steven Klein for W Magazine, July 2006.
9
Gisele Bundchen photographed by Juergen Teller for W Magazine, June 2005.
10
Kate Moss photographed by Mert and Marcus for W Magazine, April 2006.
11
Photograph by Juergen Teller for W Magazine, April 2006.
12
Jourdan Dunn photographed by Mario Sorrenti for W Magazine, March 2014.
13
Photograph by Steven Meisel for W Magazine, March 2009.
14
Saoirse Ronan photographed by Peter Lindbergh for W Magazine, February 2016.
15
Mila Kunis photographed by Craig McDean for W Magazine, March 2011.
