Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 Collection Is An Ode To Cinema And Italian Summers
Here’s your close-up of Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 runway.
The house of Chanel has been a committed champion of the film world since founder Gabrielle Chanel started dressing the actresses from the United Artists studio at the request of American producer Samuel Goldwyn in the 1930s. Besides styling stars on screen and off, the brand has been an active supporter of international movie festivals, institutions and directors (local auteur Eric Khoo was one of them); has helped to restore classics such as the enigmatic Last Year at Marienbad (1961); and often draws inspiration from cinema.
For Cruise 2025/26, it pays homage to the glamour of the silver screen as well as Coco Chanel’s decades‑spanning friendship with legendary Italian film‑maker Luchino Visconti. Here’s an exclusive close‑up look at the collection and the many ways it’s coded la dolce vita.
Gabrielle Chanel’s fondness for Italy started even before she befriended Luchino Visconti. Her first visit was to Venice in 1920 to get over the heartbreaking death of her beau Boy Capel, and she was immediately taken by the city’s lion‑shaped statues (she was, after all, a Leo) and Byzantine‑style churches. Italy naturally became a place she associated with sunniness and joy. The handbags in Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 collection are a nod to Italy’s jaunty nightlife culture.
The cream of the crop: How about this resin and metal minaudiere shaped like a giant cup of gelato and “sprinkled” with hand‑set strass that took 126 hours to complete? Meanwhile, the glamour of cinema comes to life in a series of ultra‑elegant black‑and‑white looks that were teamed with movie star‑style shades and long gloves on the runway.
A Holly Golightly‑esque LBD gets a hyper‑slick update in supple lambskin and a beaded trim inspired by the jewellery often seen on leading ladies of Italian cinema in the 1970s. The Chanel‑owned embroidery metier d’art Lesage was behind said embellishment, which also appears on a matching jacket. A total of 113 hours of needlework was needed to complete the ornamentation on both garments, comprising 3,600 beads, 430 stones and 140 rhinestones – how’s that for some stardust?
Coco Chanel has often been credited with introducing the idea of the Cruise collection: lightweight, comfortable and stylish pieces ideal for travel, and that inherently channel the spirit of being on holiday. The brand was in fact the first fashion house to stage a Cruise show – now a highly anticipated annual affair that usually takes place in some of the dreamiest destinations around the world. For Cruise 2025/26, it not only headed to Lake Como in Italy, but also presented the collection in the palatial Villa d’Este – the accommodation of choice for generations of Hollywood celebrities whenever they’re in town.
This romantic hotel life offers the perfect setting for dressing up as one pleases: This modern, pyjama‑like pairing comprising a shawl‑collar shirt and wide‑legged pants is made of shantung – known for being ultra‑comfortable, resilient and luxuriously lustrous. The cut of the pants is reminiscent of the style Coco Chanel herself wore when she was on vacay, while Baroque‑style jewelled buttons by the artisanal studio Desrues as well as layers of pearls lend irreverence and pizzazz (i.e. rizz).
One of the It accessories in Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 collection is the printed silk scarf – and not only because of the bohemian, beachside glamour it’s often associated with. The maison also wanted to pay tribute to the Lake Como‑based silk specialist Mantero, which it has been working with for 50 years. Every scarf in the collection has been hand‑crafted by the family‑run textile company that dates back to 1902. The hems, for example, were hand‑rolled to give both softness and shape, while every colour was individually applied using engraved screens for optimal vividness.
Available as a 90cm by 90cm square or a 45cm by 45cm bandana, each piece of silk features motifs and hues synonymous with Lake Como – from pastel gardens to those shimmering blue waters – reimagined into 1980s‑style graphic prints. Worn in a multitude of ways on the runway, including tied around the ankle, it’s the Cruise season distilled into a single accessory: creative, clever and carefree.
The Chanel Creation Studio’s idea of shoes that will take one from poolside to scenic evening strolls this Cruise season: patent leather mules and sandals in sorbet colours such as pink, coral and cream – elevated literally and metaphorically with graphic heels inspired by Italian architecture.
A sun hat is a holiday wardrobe essential. Chanel’s version for Cruise 2025/26 is hand‑made by French milliner Maison Michel, which is also part of the brand’s metiers d’art collective. Every piece has been crafted from wild toquilla straw fibre – known for its strength, flexibility and breathability – that has been carefully harvested, sun‑bleached, then woven strand by strand for the finest finish before being gently moulded into shape. Delicate camellia‑shaped brooches add to the Italian summer vibe – a charming accompaniment to the collection’s many knitwear looks.
The one here is a wink to Coco Chanel’s love of the mariniere, or striped sailor top, and features an oversized polo shirt and pants made from cotton yarn with a terry cloth effect – cute, comfy and easy to wear.
More mariniere references in Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 collection, this time with a disco‑inflected spin: The mini dress on the left is crafted from lambskin, and features multicoloured stripes that were inspired by sunsets along the Italian Riviera and created using a high‑precision digital printing technique.
Meanwhile, the two‑piece look on the right is meant to evoke the glistening pool at the show venue, Villa d’Este. The tank‑style top is made from coated striped jersey that had been further embroidered with 25,000 lacquered sequins and 1,800 transparent glass tubes by Lesage – different coloured yarn was woven into each tube in order to produce the strips of lighter shades (see the blue and grey bands). The long skirt is also made from coated striped jersey and accented with a fun, 1980s‑style asymmetrical flounce across the upper part. A belt with charms in nautical colours hand‑crafted by the artisanal jewellery workshop Goossens completes this relaxed yet sophisticated take on maritime chic.
Set against the cinematic Lake Como and its exuberant way of life, Chanel’s Cruise 2025/26 collection ultimately revolves around the joy of dressing up. The opulent costume jewellery – often worn stacked with a cool insouciance on the runway – captures this spirit. After all, one of the greatest influences on the way Coco Chanel designed jewellery was Venice and its Baroque aesthetic. The pieces worn here to give this minimalist silk satin crepe dress added movie star appeal were inspired by Lake Como’s rocky landscape and features resin cabochons of various colours with a magnifying‑glass effect, all hand‑set and crafted by Goossens.
This article first appeared in Volume 4 of F ZINE.