Whitney Peak Is The New Face Of Chanel
The Gossip Girl reboot, starring Whitney Peak, was a glossy and contemporary look at the wealthy in 2021. Being released 14 years after its predecessor meant a slight change of pace, namely a much more diverse cast. Enter Canadian-Ugandan actress Whitney Peak.
A Partnership With Chanel
Peak has quickly become a rising star both in the entertainment and fashion industries. This March, she became the face of the Coco Mademoiselle fragrance and the first Black worldwide spokesperson for Chanel. In a series of advertisements where Peak dances through the streets of Paris, she inhabits the Chanel woman perfectly. Bold yet bashful, sensual yet sophisticated, she is Coco Chanel but modernized. Peak is now a fixture at the fashion house and regularly attends the shows, sitting alongside Lily Rose Depp and Jennie.
Chanel For A New Generation
Peak’s ascension is a representation of Virginie Viard’s desire to intermingle modernity with Chanel’s inherent French-ness. For years, Chanel ambassadors such as Caroline de Maigret or Charlotte Gainsbourg became the face of the brand because of their inherent French-ness. It serves as a cultural cachet by which the fashion house can distinguish itself and give the air of prestige. For so long and even now, France is the mirror by which the industry looks at itself. And Viard’s predecessor, the formidably talented Karl Lagerfeld was not quite an industry disruptor.
But Peak holds a love for the iconic Coco Chanel that makes her a right choice as the fashion house moves forward. In an interview with Who What Wear, she said, “Coco Chanel is that girl. She is unconventional.” Perhaps it is Coco Chanel’s drive to succeed that influences Peak, who has been acting since she was a child. But what firmly connects the two is their love of both the masculine and the feminine. The actress is a lover of 80s suits and anything that is not overtly feminine. Coco, unlike a Dior, was the same and liked to masculinize the feminine or vice versa.
Regardless, Chanel has found its face of today and perhaps decades to come. And it may be 2023, Blair is nowhere to be seen, but Gossip Girl still has a knack for sending kids to superstardom.
Featured Image Courtesy of ELLE