Sofia Coppola Chats About Her Latest Gig: A Luxury Cashmere Collection, Barrie + Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola invited friends and the media to toast her new collection, Barrie + Sofia Coppola, Tuesday night at Invisible Collection in New York.
The director of such movies as “Priscilla,” “The Virgin Suicides,” and “Lost in Translation” teamed up with Barrie, one of the oldest cashmere knitting manufacturers in Scotland, for a limited-edition collaboration that launched this month. Barrie has been part of Chanel’s Metiers d’Art houses since 2012.
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Among the guests at the party — where the collection was on display — were Anna Sui, Margaret Qualley, Augustin Dol-Maillot, Carole Bouquet, Gucci Westman, Derek Blasberg, Vanessa Traina, Ivy Getty, Elie Top, Kate Young, Lynn Yaeger and Lynn Hirschberg.
Sui, who’s a friend of Coppola’s, said she actually designed two dresses for the lead character to wear in “Priscilla.”
“She captured that period so well. It’s so Sofia, and it’s so her world,” said Sui.
When asked what she thought of Coppola’s new collection, Sui said, ” I love it. I have my eye on that military cardigan.”
Earlier that evening, Coppola, who worked on the collaboration for a year, explained that she was aware of Barrie because “they make Chanel’s famous cardigans and knitwear” and through her visits to Paris. “It’s one of my favorite stops. They [Barrie] make beautiful things. I wear the men’s crewneck sweaters. I just love it. I always like to peek in there,” she said.
The new collection, conceived by Barrie artistic director Augustin Dol-Maillott, reflects Coppola’s own style, offering a wardrobe that can be worn for work, travel and leisure. It is available for only one season.
With 17 ready-to-wear pieces and accessories, the collection is designed to be worn together or separately. Colors span black, a dark navy and shades of gray, with khaki and a selection of pinks as the only subdued pops. The stripe is the sole motif, featured on a long-sleeve cozy sweater. There is also a jumpsuit, a double-breasted military-style jacket with trompe-l’oeil stitching, a velvet jacket in a heavier gauge knit, knitted leggings and a dressed-up polo sweater. Other looks are a short-sleeved T-shirt, a color-blocked sweater in a light gauge, and a knitted puffer jacket.
“One of my favorite things is the military jacket,” said Coppola. “I love the cashmere jumpsuit that’s pretty great and I love the knit pants and matching tops, which is a signature of Barrie.”
Coppola equated the process to dreaming up costumes for her films.
“It’s the same as when I work with a costume designer on a movie. You’re just trying to articulate what you like and they have all the expertise on how to do it. I learned a lot. It’s the same kind of conversation,” she said. “I just felt we were on the same page. I sent him [Dol-Maillott] some references and at the same time he sent me some references, and a lot of them are the same,” said Coppola.
Describing her aesthetic, Coppola said, “It’s just selfishly what I would want. I thought about the dream travel wardrobe if you’re going on a trip, and you can take a few things and they mix and match. You can wear the same thing on a plane and if you’re going to dinner or a meeting. It’s super easy but also looks a little polished.”
“Whenever I’ve gotten something at Barrie, it feels like a big splurge but I wear them over and over again, and they never pill. They last forever,” she said.
Retail prices of the Barrie + Sofia Coppola collection range from $300 to $8,280.
The collection is accompanied by a campaign that was shot in Paris by photographer Melodie McDaniel and features actress Margaret Qualley.
“I shot her for some Chanel Couture before, and I just think she’s really charming and sparkly and fun to shoot. We’re friends,” she said. Coppola shot the video for the Barrie + Sofia Coppola collection, while McDaniel photographed the stills.
The collection is available in Barrie’s own boutiques in London and Paris and website, barrie.com, as well as selected retailers worldwide such as Net-a-porter, Moda Operandi and Saks.com.
Now that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over, Coppola said she’s just been “finishing stuff on ‘Priscilla,’ so I haven’t take a pause yet. I’m not sure what’s next. I’m enjoying the side project with this.”
Coppola has a long history with Chanel, tracing back to the summer of 1986 when she completed an internship with Karl Lagerfeld. She not only attended several Chanel fashion shows and wore the brand on different occasions, but also collaborated with the French house on multiple creative fronts. In 1989 she designed the costumes for her father Francis Ford Coppola’s movie “Life Without Zo?,” where she dressed the girls in Chanel suits. Chanel and W Magazine hosted a dinner at Indochine in September in celebration of Coppola’s first book, “Sofia Coppola Archive: 1999-2023.”
In 1994, Coppola had a little street fashion company label called Milkfed, which sold T-shirts. “I’ve always been into clothes. I’ve always been interested in that as a kid and I was an intern at Chanel. I had so many different interests I couldn’t just pick one thing and go to study design. I love working with designers who really have that knowledge and expertise,” said Coppola.
The Barrie collection, she said, is “the ultimate cashmere collection. You wear it at home and you can wear it out. It’s really comfortable. It’s still chic,” said Coppola, who was dressed in black knit pants, a cream T-shirt and the velvet knit cardigan for the party. “It was fun to do and I really loved working with their team. To work with the great quality and craftsmanship was really a dream,” she said.
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