The fashion house Chanel recently unveiled a short film built around the new Chanel 25 handbag, tapping into a piece of pop history and Australian cultural affection. The ad places Margot Robbie at the centre of a playful sequence that nods to Kylie Minogue’s looping visual for “Come Into My World”. Under the direction of Michel Gondry, the clip stitches together repeating actions and mirrored moments to produce an effect that is both familiar and freshly styled.
This collaboration marries star power and technical theatre: Robbie takes on multiple iterations of herself while Kylie Minogue appears in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo. The campaign emphasises the handbag as a practical, versatile object while simultaneously celebrating the visual trickery that made the original video memorable. Photographs by Craig McDean extend the idea into still life, showing Robbie paired with a second version of herself, each wearing the bag.
Recreating a memory: concept and creative team
The project reunited director Michel Gondry with the concept that propelled the original clip into pop-culture memory. Known for inventive in-camera trickery, Gondry revisits the loop motif by having Robbie move through a Parisian-styled street set, intersecting with other versions of her own character. That technique—filming continuous action and editing it to feel cyclical—forms the backbone of the piece and ties the commercial back to the music video that has been part of the public imagination for years. The visual strategy keeps the handbag in focus while playing with repetition as an artistic device.
Production notes and cameo details
Set dressing included a bookshop façade, taxis, lampposts and everyday moments—Robbie steps from a taxi, pets a dog and navigates stairs while the camera traces overlapping paths. In one discreet moment, Kylie Minogue appears in an upper-window, wearing a pink sweater and lending a vocal thread as the soundtrack plays. The cameo is compact but deliberate, reinforcing the conversation between campaign and source material without turning into a direct copy. The result is an ad that feels both referential and new.
Personal connections and nostalgic echoes
For Robbie the shoot carried sentimental weight. Her first live show experience was attending one of Minogue’s Fever tour dates, and the song tied to the original video is a touchstone from that era. That history feeds into the performance choices and the way the actress inhabits the repeating-persona device: the campaign becomes a creative full-circle moment where childhood fandom meets present-day collaboration. Mentions of favourite films and directors emerged naturally during press conversations, with Robbie acknowledging the influence of Gondry’s work on her perception of cinematic craft.
Why the handbag matters here
Beyond nostalgia, the campaign serves to introduce and contextualise the Chanel 25 handbag as a contemporary wardrobe essential. Robbie’s scenes emphasise the bag’s adaptability: it travels from day to night in a single cut, and a sequence of wardrobe changes showcases multiple sizes and colors. Using a narrative device rather than a static product shot allows the brand to demonstrate the bag’s functionality in motion—an approach that blends storytelling with product positioning.
Imagery, reception and cultural resonance
Beyond the film, a suite of photographs and behind-the-scenes material extends the campaign’s reach. Craig McDean’s images capture doubled poses and staged movement, offering a quieter complement to Gondry’s kinetic direction. Critics and fans alike have noted the charm of seeing an iconic visual language reinterpreted: the looped choreography and subtle humour—such as a moment when Robbie struggles to sling the bag over her shoulder—add a playful tone that resonated on social platforms. The short film has prompted renewed attention to the original song and video, proving the power of revisiting cultural touchstones through contemporary collaborations.
Final thoughts
Chanel’s film bridges fashion, cinema and pop music in a compact work that highlights both the Chanel 25 and the continuing appeal of inventive direction. By pairing Margot Robbie with Michel Gondry and inviting Kylie Minogue into the frame, the campaign balances reverence and reinvention. It demonstrates how a product launch can be amplified by storytelling techniques that honour a predecessor while introducing new visual flourishes and a fresh audience to a storied creative legacy.