Who Is Iman Perez, The 24-Year-Old Chanel Muse?

For its Fall Winter 2023/24 pre-collection that hit boutiques recently, Chanel continues to build on the thoughtful, cross-cultural relationship it started with Dakar, where it first showed its latest Metiers d’Art collection last December. Serving as both clotheshorse and muse for this collection is the French native Iman Perez, whose varied background (she’s of Senegalese, Spanish and German ancestry) and genre-hopping work (actress, model and equestrian) are the perfect reflection of how youths today – much like Chanel – are taking a border-less approach to navigating culture and identity.

chanel fall winter pre-collection — 24-year-old Iman Perez fronts Chanel's Fall Winter 2023/24 pre-collection campaign. Credit: Malick Bodian, Courtesy of Chanel

By Keng Yang Shuen, 16 Aug 2023

Fashion fiends will know that Chanel made history by becoming the first European luxury house to stage a major fashion show in sub-Saharan Africa last December – or more specifically, it held its 2022/23 Metiers d’Art presentation in the Senegalese capital of Dakar last December. Now the muse and campaign star of the maison’s Fall Winter 2023/24 pre-collection, the French Gen Z model/actress Iman Perez, offers another link to the African city: Her mother, the actress and writer Karine Silla, was born there, and Perez divides her time between Dakar, Paris and New York City.

Inspired by the 24-year-old’s globetrotting ways and multi-hyphenate lifestyle, Chanel artistic director Virginie Viard has come up with a youthful yet elegant collection that playfully remixes house signatures with the hip-hop aesthetic of the ’90s and masculine-meets-feminine style of the ’70s (clock the combination of a cropped shearling jacket with a knit top and baggy printed jeans below).

In another poetic move that ties Dakar to Paris, Chanel has roped in the rising 26-year-old, Senegal-born photographer and model Malick Bodian to go behind the lens, capturing Perez in her favourite spots in the French capital. These include the historical, neo-classical Pompeian-style shopping arcade that’s Galerie Vivienne, the quays by the Seine river and the Moulin Rouge cabaret – a nod to the Baz Luhrmann movie that sparked Perez’s interest to dive into the film industry.

The Chanel Fall Winter 2023/24 pre-collection is fittingly designed for women on the go and to be mixed and matched according to one’s taste and mood: an ecru wool tweed jacket, knits in pick-me-up pink and lilac, a three-piece mini skirt suit that can be worn as is or broken up. After all, Viard knows that personal style – especially for the youth community – is more often than not multi-faceted and constantly evolving.

“There’s nothing more personal than the way you dress. I’m of Spanish, Senegalese, German and French origin, and my style reflects that,” says Perez. “I love being able to embody different women, going from a very sensitive person to a very happy or very strong one.”