by Josie Sharp
Is Margot Robbie stuck in a Love Triangle with Chanel and Bottega Venetta?
Margot Robbie, star of hit movies from Suicide Squad to I, Tonya and even the upcoming Barbie, has been an ambassador for the classic fashion house ‘Chanel’ since 2018.
This partnership started out strong, with her wearing a gorgeous couture cream gown, with silver embellishments, and even her diamond earrings are said to have been catered to Margot Robbie’s ‘personal taste.’
Since then, however, it seems that Robbie has become less well-styled with the looks Chanel put her in for red carpets and premieres. Her fans have commented that in the past year, her Chanel looks have been disappointing - and that the star herself even appears to be disappointed in the looks as well.
In November of last year, she wore an emerald green Bottega Veneta gown to the Governor Awards, making the public believe that her relationship with the French fashion house was over and that she was finally ‘freed’ from wearing looks that no longer reflected her personal style.
Since, Robbie has continued to wear more Bottega Veneta but is unfortunately also still linked to Chanel - most notably wearing a custom blush gown to the Golden Globes in January.
After so many gorgeous looks featuring Bottega Veneta, despite the Golden Globes being a momentous occasion, the Chanel dress was heavily considered a disappointing appearance by the star. Through no fault of her own, Chanel’s instance on using custom looks rather than committing to the rising trend of cult vintage has let down long-term fans of both the actress and the fashion house. Are big names like Chanel still not hearing our call for sustainability and obsession with giving new life to archive items?
Robbie’s chantilly lace and silk tulle red-carpet look involved over 750 hours of work to be custom-made for the Babylon star. However, disappointed, the look was still nothing new - having been heavily inspired by a piece that featured in Chanel’s AW2 Haute Couture collection.
The original being designed by creative director Virginie Viard makes this choice even more frustrating. With a background in costume design, Viard's first work in the industry was as a costume production as assistant to Dominique Borg and she even designed the costumes for the 1993 film, Three Colors: Blue, starring Juliette Binoche. Therefore, her creative image could have been a perfect fit rather than a new custom look - especially for a red carpet where Robbie was nominated for a role in a Hollywood-focused film.
A look which did wow? The vintage 1990s Versace gown Robbie wore to her Babylon premiere in Sydney. The gorgeous gown was complimented with personalised red lace that finally allowed the star to show a bit of her own personal style.
Is an era of long-standing fashion partnerships with actors/actresses over? With Louis Vuittons latest moves, it seems not.
The trend of using vintage pieces rather than new custom gowns may affect how fashion houses conduct their business with stars, which could be necessary for the classic brands to continue being successful.
It seems that for Margot Robbie, it's still a waiting game for the long-overdue conclusion of her ambassadorship.