Cannes Opening Film ‘Jeanne du Barry’ Features Costumes by Chanel
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PARIS — If Jeanne du Barry were alive today, chances are she’d be wearing Chanel.
That might have been the premise of filmmaker Maïwenn, who enlisted the French couture house to make some of the costumes for the title character in “Jeanne du Barry,” the period film that is set to open the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday in tandem with its release in French theaters.
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Maïwenn, who goes by her first name, not only directed the 18th-century drama but also stars as du Barry opposite Johnny Depp, who’s making his comeback in the role of King Louis XV.
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To create the costumes, hair and makeup for Countess du Barry, the monarch’s last official mistress, she assembled a dream team of fashion experts. Costume designer Jürgen Doering, a veteran of houses including Karl Lagerfeld, Guy Laroche and Yves Saint Laurent, was joined by hairdresser John Nollet and makeup artist Tom Pecheux.
It marks Doering’s third collaboration with Chanel, having worked with the house on his costumes for “Clouds of Sils Maria” and “Personal Shopper,” both directed by Olivier Assayas and starring brand ambassador Kristen Stewart.
Although Maïwenn appeared in a Chanel eyewear campaign in 2012, this partnership ties in less explicitly with the house’s marketing activities than other recent projects like “Spencer,” another vehicle for Stewart. Still, the synergies are clear.
The film comes on the heels of the recent Met Gala celebrating Karl Lagerfeld, and like many celebrities who walked the event’s red carpet, Doering gravitated toward the late couturier’s creations for Chanel in the ‘90s. A great connoisseur of the 18th century, Lagerfeld frequently referenced the period in his designs and cited du Barry as an inspiration.
Doering selected around 10 looks from the Chanel archives, which the house’s ateliers then recreated for Maïwenn, adding an unexpectedly modern touch to the production. One of them was based on a corseted ivory tweed dress originally worn by Claudia Schiffer in a 1992 haute couture show, and reprised by singer Dua Lipa at the Met Gala.
“I loved the fact that the design of the dress was inspired by the 18th century, but the fabric was improbable, because it’s all done in Chanel tweed,” remarked Doering, who doesn’t like historical references to feel too literal. “It’s looking at the period with tinted glasses: rose-tinted one day, purple- or almond green-tinted another.”
Though Maïwenn’s vision was nourished by films including “Barry Lyndon” and “Marie Antoinette,” she didn’t want to push the anachronistic elements too far. “She wanted to reflect that period’s great sense of refinement. It wasn’t a punk period, it was a period of extreme sophistication,” Doering said.
For the German designer, who studied at the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and got his first job at Lagerfeld’s KL label, it felt natural to work on the project with Chanel creative director Virginie Viard.
Doering has also collaborated with Louis Vuitton womenswear designer Nicolas Ghesquière on the costumes for the musical “Starmania” and the HBO miniseries “Irma Vep.”
This type of partnership has faced blowback from the local film community, which has historically relied on generous state subsidies, and looks unkindly on anything that reeks of product placement. “I understand that people are jealous of this easy relationship with luxury,” Doering retorted. “I see it rather as a synergy of French energies for French culture.”
He noted that new sources of funding are essential as the streaming revolution impacts financing for independent films. In addition to providing clothes, jewelry, accessories and makeup, Chanel contributed to the budget of the film as part of its ongoing efforts to support the film sector.
“Fashion is France’s top industry these days. We don’t produce much apart from dresses and fragrances, so you have to be in tune with the times,” Doering argued. “If these brands want to support French cinema, I want to say: ‘Welcome!’”
Chanel’s links with cinema date back to 1931, when movie mogul Sam Goldwyn invited founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel to Hollywood. Her welcoming party at the Los Angeles train station included Greta Garbo, and Chanel would go on to design for actresses such as Gloria Swanson.
Since then the house has costumed stars ranging from Jeanne Moreau in “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” to Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine.” Chanel herself created the outfits for actress Lise Delamare’s role as Marie Antoinette in the 1938 film “La Marseillaise.”
What stands out in Maïwenn’s wardrobe is the absence of adornment, with the “wow” factor coming mainly from the volume and color of the pieces. “I adapted to today’s taste,” Doering explained, noting that he was mindful of the cost of producing the made-to-measure pieces. “I also wanted to respect Virginie’s style. I mean, it’s 2023.”
Shooting took place in historic locations including the Palace of Versailles. “It’s quite incredible. They didn’t put us in a corner. We were able to rent the Hall of Mirrors, symbolic places like that, which really make an impact on screen,” he said.
Chanel loaned high jewelry to accessorize some of the looks, including a necklace from its Ruban collection set with 855 diamonds. Doering explained that because the movie was shot on 35-mm film, he didn’t want to use rhinestones. “All these details are very important, and it gives that real sense of splendor,” he said.
Some of Chanel’s Métiers d’Art houses were also involved. Goossens provided jewelry, while Maison Michel created straw hats using a sewing technique handed down from generation to generation.
A fashion icon of her age, du Barry by all accounts was a serial seductress and had a scandalous reputation to match — a facet that Maïwenn immediately related to. The 47-year-old has rarely been out of the headlines since getting married to director Luc Besson at 16, and is known for her tempestuous personality and films rooted in personal trauma.
“For having lived through them, I know a lot of things that [du Barry] went through. Leaving school very early. Feeling very early on that charm and seduction could take her very far. Loving a powerful man at a very young age, and being called a whore the entire time they were together,” she told French magazine Premiere.
“It’s a fairly classic tale of social climbing,” Doering said of the courtesan’s ascent, egged on by her lover Jean-Baptiste du Barry, who encouraged her to marry his brother so she would gain the noble title required for access to the royal court. She was charged with treason during the French Revolution and executed by guillotine in 1793. “It’s an incredible life trajectory.”
Brushing aside Maïwenn’s reputation for being difficult on set, Doering said he was grateful to the filmmaker for giving him the opportunity to work on his first period film. What he hadn’t banked on was that the boom in series production would create a Europe-wide shortage of available costumes.
“I had to deal with huge logistical issues on this movie because there were no more 18th-century dresses to be found anywhere,” he said. Doering finally sourced costumes from a specialized supplier in Rome, and created two workshops at the movie studio in France for Maïwenn’s and Depp’s looks.
That gave him the freedom to pursue his own vision of 18th-century style.
“When you make a period film, you can take iconic references, whether paintings or photographs, and simply copy them, except then it’s like Disneyland, because you’re freezing an image of the past,” he said. “I place the bar very high, and it’s no accident that I come from the world of haute couture. This was a gateway back into haute couture.”
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