Michel Gondry Directs Margaret Qualley and A$AP Rocky for Chanel Short Film
A new Michel Gondry-directed short film, with production from Partizan, landed this week ahead of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art 2026 show. Starring brand ambassador Margaret Qualley and the fashion house’s newest recruit, A$AP Rocky, it sees the pair in a classic romantic scenario set in the heart of New York.
Shot on location, with the buzz and swirl of real city life all around, Gondry said in Vanity Fair, “Every place is special, but New York [has] a quality, a texture that you can see everywhere you look. It’s old and new at the same time and constantly bursting with life.”
The Métiers d’Art shows are special, celebrating the crafts of the artisans partnered with Chanel and taking place in a different city annually. Under the new creative direction of Matthieu Blazy, this year the show took place in – as you may have guessed – New York, specifically on a decommissioned subway platform in Manhattan’s Bowery Station.
The wordless narrative is brought to life with flashes of blue and red, foreshadowing the colour story of the collection itself, with Blazy taking inspiration from regular commuters across different eras from the 1920s and onwards for the designs. Varying framerates nod to bygone ears of film too, evoking slapstick and silent masterpieces from the likes of Buster Keaton, soundtracked by the smooth sounds of Le Motel.
Some of the clothes from the Métiers d’Art 2026 show are featured in the film. Qualley wakes up looking ethereal in a mini dress that could be pyjama or a party frock before changing into a pair of blue trousers and a blue and red tweed blazer complete with a Chanel bag as she leaves for the day.
A$AP Rocky is wearing a pair of luxurious red pyjamas that stay on amid his mad dash through the city (and even a swim) to try and catch Qualley as she exits a subway station. One striking shot has him framed kneeling with an outstretched hand holding a ring box, now besuited, before the wind deconstructs and rips the suit off to reveal the striking pyjamas once more.
