A fitting homage to the late Karl Lagerfeld, the archival piece was specially created for Kidman to wear in an epic perfume commercial
In 2004, Chanel produced one of the most expensive ads ever made starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Baz Luhrmann. Made on a budget of US$33mil, Kidman and Luhrmann were riding high on the success of Moulin Rouge!, a spectacular musical that earned eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actress.
"Because of Moulin Rouge!, Chanel was very aware of what a brilliant filmmaker Baz was and they asked him to make a small film of Nicole wearing the most beautiful dress that Karl designed," Anna Wintour told Vogue US. "Even though it was a small film, Baz and Karl and Nicole treated it like it was an epic five hour film. There were many fittings, many meetings, script discussions, and the opening itself was like the opening of Lawrence of Arabia."
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Indeed, the two-minute long ad had an epic vibe. The plot is a parallel of Moulin Rouge!'s premise of a bohemian poet falling in love with a glamorous courtesan. The ad opens with a panicked Kidman escaping from the bright lights of fame, the train of her Chanel dress trailing dramatically behind her. This is the same dress that Kidman revived for Met Gala 2023's Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. Made of pink silk tulle, it is embroidered with 250 pink ostrich feathers that made up the four-metre train, and over 3,000 silver crystals and sequins.
See also: Why is Karl Lagerfeld such a polarising fashion figure today?