Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 Show In Lake Como: A Cinematic Italian Daydream

The annual Cruise shows by Chanel have always been the stuff of fashion dreams. (Coco Chanel has in fact often been said to be the designer who invented the concept to get her customers fantasising about that vacay life.) The Chanel Cruise 2025/26 show – the brand’s latest, staged on April 29 in Lake Como, Italy – came with a particularly transcendental glow.

LAKE COMO SETS THE SCENE FOR A CINEMATIC CHANEL FANTASY

Imagine the setting: the palatial Villa d’Este – designed by the Italian artist, sculptor and muralist Pellegrino Tibaldi in 1568 for a cardinal then converted into an equally splendorous luxury hotel in 1873. Situated along the shores of Lake Como and known for its rolling, Renaissance-inspired gardens that were featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s first film, The Pleasure Garden, it’s been a go-to retreat for generations of the rich and famous. Word has it that securing the entire place the way Chanel did for this Cruise 2025/26 fashion show is a feat in itself.

CELEBRITIES AND SUNSHINE: A LAID-BACK MOOD AT THE CHANEL CRUISE SHOW

Now imagine the celebrities-in-attendance – the likes of Margaret Qualley (along with her pet doggo Smokey), Keira Knightley, Ally from Thailand, and Singapore’s newly minted Netflix It girl Tasha Low – hanging out in the sun against that stunning backdrop of lake, mountain and open skies while waiting for showtime.

Instead of the usual mania that’s become part and parcel of fashion events these days, the mood was relaxed and buoyant. For non-celebrity showgoers like us, it had the effect of walking onto a dreamy movie set in between takes.

A LOVE LETTER TO ITALY – AND TO THE MOVIES

Call this Cruise escapade Chanel’s version of La Dolce Vita, if you will. Following the brand’s arty outing to Marseille for its Cruise collection last year, the Chanel Cruise 2025/26 showcase is rooted in Gabrielle Chanel’s love for Italy as a place of joy and sunshine, as well as her other special connection to it: its cinema industry or, more specifically, her tight friendship with the legendary filmmaker Luchino Visconti.

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It would explain why the maison called on the indie movie queen and friend-of-the-house, Sofia Coppola (yes, we saw her at the show too), to direct the fashion show teaser: a playful, sensuous short film of the model Ida Heiner luxuriating on a balcony at Villa d’Este. And it certainly explains the Chanel Cruise 2025/26 collection: an effortless combination of movie star glamour and holiday ease.

CRUISE STAPLES WITH A NEW IT-GIRL TWIST

You know the iconic wardrobes of say, a sight-seeing Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday (1953), or the villa-living Tilda Swinton in I Am Love (2015)? This Chanel Cruise collection 2025 is the IRL answer to them (read: you can actually get your hands on the pieces).

Take how there are all the well-loved Cruise staples – think swimsuits, jersey pants suits, and knitted dresses and cardigans – now given a youthful, head-turning makeover in cheery multi-coloured stripes or a strawberry ice cream pink hue. Or the short and swingy monochromatic lace dresses embroidered with the motifs of flowers found on the grounds of Villa d’Este – romantic and ravishing in a slip-on-and-go one-piece.

THE NEW IT ACCESSORY: LAKE COMO-INSPIRED SILK SCARVES

Possessing the same mix of grace and glam is a new It accessory at Chanel: scarves printed with punchy graphics of flowers and other Lake Como-inspired motifs, handmade by the local silk specialist Mantero, and that can be worn any way one pleases. In the show, they were tied around the head, wrist and even sandals, but what’s stopping you from turning it into a cute halter or bandeau top, we say.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, CHANEL: LOOKS THAT CHANNEL THE SILVER SCREEN

The looks with the most distinct silver screen influence stand out naturally. Clock the all-black leather midi dress with a halter neckline and crystal-beaded trim, and the sequinned blouse and matching flared trousers also in black. On the runway, both were styled with black sunnies and, in the case of the dress, matching long gloves – a simple approach that drives across the point that it isn’t hard to look like a star.

A SPOTLIGHT ON MAKING A STATEMENT

Meanwhile our favourite looks are among the most statement-making in the whole Chanel Cruise 2025/26 collection: a series of short and flouncy, pastel-hued ballgowns – their colours inspired by the waters of Lake Como – paired with plain heeled slides. If ’80s party dressing is an acquired taste that hasn’t gotten onto the radar of Gen Z, these lite and updated versions of the era’s cocktail dresses might just change that.

DRESSING UP TO BE SEEN – AND TO FEEL GOOD

The notes Chanel released after the show stated that another key theme that guided its Creation Studio for this Cruise 2025/26 collection was “the joy of getting dressed up to be noticed”. Often, finding fame and drawing attention to oneself gets a bad name, but this collection reminds that it can also be a thoroughly chic and personally empowering affair.

Whoever says that Chanel is in the business of selling dreams has got it wrong. Chanel doesn’t sell dreams – it creates them. 

Scroll ahead for a closer look at every outfit from this momentous Chanel Cruise 2025/26 show that was unveiled at Villa d’Este in Lake Como.