\u201cWe\u2019ve got people coming out\u2014cut!\u201d director Michel Gondry<\/strong><\/a> shouts outside of the Astor Place subway station in Lower Manhattan on a blustery day in late October. In front of the Academy Award winner\u2019s lens, A$AP Rocky<\/a>,<\/strong> clad in silk pajamas, is on bended knee with a ring box in his outstretched hand, gazing up at Margaret Qualley.<\/strong><\/p>\n Qualley, who wears a textured tweed jacket and wool trousers with Mary Jane high heels from Chanel\u2019s M\u00e9tiers d\u2019Art 2026 collection, seems unfazed by those who stop and stare as she stars in a short film featuring Chanel artistic director Matthieu Blazy<\/strong>\u2019s new designs. \u201cIt\u2019s New York City: You\u2019re on display and invisible at the same time,\u201d she tells Vanity Fair.<\/em> \u201cThe city is a beast, ever-changing.\u201d But the spot\u2019s location isn\u2019t without its perks: \u201cI get to sleep in my own bed.\u201d (Qualley and her husband<\/a>, Grammy-winning music producer Jack Antonoff<\/strong>\u2014whom she wed in Chanel\u2014live in New Jersey.)<\/p>\n Rocky, a Harlem native, is similarly unbothered by the onlookers who gathered for a sneak peek of the campaign. \u201cI usually walk around in my pajamas to go to the bodega, so this is pretty normal,\u201d he tells me back at his trailer between takes. \u201cThere\u2019s really no place like home. And this is the hub for creatives, artists: New York City\u2026this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n A$AP Rocky<\/p>\n <\/span>Courtesy of Chanel.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n A$AP Rocky<\/p>\n <\/span>Courtesy of Chanel.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Set in New York City, the film sees Rocky and Qualley frolic around downtown Manhattan, a familiar playground for all involved. \u201cEvery place is special, but New York [has] a quality, a texture that you can see everywhere you look,\u201d says Gondry. \u201cIt\u2019s old and new at the same time and constantly bursting with life.\u201d<\/p>\n Qualley, who first walked Chanel\u2019s runway as a teenager in 2011 and has closed its couture proceedings as the \u201cChanel bride,\u201d<\/a> has starred in some other memorable short films, dancing her way through Spike Jonze<\/strong>\u2019s Kenzo World<\/em><\/a> (2016) and acting in Chanel\u2019s The Button<\/em><\/a> (2024). But working with Gondry made \u201ca dream come true,\u201d says Qualley, citing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,<\/em><\/a> which earned him a best-original-screenplay Oscar in 2005, as one of her \u201call-time favorite films.\u201d<\/p>\n Margaret Qualley<\/p>\n <\/span>Courtesy of Chanel.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Margaret Qualley<\/p>\n <\/span>Courtesy of Chanel.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Back in his trailer, Rocky has similar feelings about collaborating with Gondry. \u201cAll of my music videos that I direct derived some inspiration from one of his films. I plan on directing my own feature. I look up to people like him,\u201d he says, a grin stretching across his face. \u201cI feel like a kid in a candy store. On a normal day, I\u2019m usually perky, but today I\u2019m fanning out. I hope I\u2019m not annoying him.\u201d<\/p>\n Rocky seems to have played it cool enough: Gondry calls directing the pair \u201ceasy and natural.\u201d On set, Chanel\u2019s newest leading man is also trying to keep warm as temperatures dip, rubbing his hands together when the black puffer jacket protecting him from the wind slips from his arms. \u201cSummertime, summertime,\u201d Rocky chirps quietly before another take begins. But fall makes itself known with the burnt orange leaves that scatter on the ground, whipping periodically into Qualley\u2019s slicked-back bun as he proposes marriage again. She jumps for joy, prancing around Rocky\u2019s kneeling position, then launches into his arms with a breathless \u201cYes!\u201d Qualley gets lifted into the air as onlookers gawk from across the street.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/692712279da59bfb5a9c994a\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/vf1125-chanel-01b.jpg\"\/)
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