Vintage Chanel pieces are once again favoured by celebrities. Aimee Yan takes a closer look at how Tyla, Jennie and Kylie Jenner, Bella Hadid and Margot Robbie are reworking the house’s timeless codes

South African singer Tyla recently released a single titled “Chanel”, paying homage to the brand’s 1990s aesthetic. Vintage Chanel is being revisited, signalling a new golden era. From red carpets to stages, from K-pop idols to Hollywood stars, designs conceived by Karl Lagerfeld are being reinterpreted by successive generations of women, each bringing new meanings to the classics.

Bella Hadid

Bella Hadid has also reinterpreted Chanel’s vintage spirit through her street style. The Chanel spring/summer 2015 Graffiti Messenger Bag she carries was originally Karl Lagerfeld’s creation, blending graffiti motifs with a canvas texture. She paired it with a grey tracksuit, a matching headband, and ballet flats. The graffiti details on the bag became the highlight of her look, perfectly merging athleisure, vintage charm, and understated luxury into one effortlessly modern ensemble.

Blackpink’s Jennie

Blackpink member Jennie has long embodied the contemporary Chanel muse. On the Deadline tour stop in Kaohsiung, she wore the white corset and shorts embellished with camellias from Karl Lagerfeld’s spring/summer 1993 collection. She cleverly paired the set with loose, washed denim and a leather jacket, even tucking one trouser leg into long boots. What was once genteel and refined became a modern, street-charged attitude under her styling.

Kylie Jenner

If Tyla has brought vintage Chanel to the stage, Kylie Jenner has taken it to the beach. She owns three crystal-embellished swimsuits from Chanel’s spring/summer 1995 collection by Karl Lagerfeld, in red, black and a multicoloured variation. These bikinis pair clean silhouettes with pavé crystals, shimmering with the 1990s’ glamour and sensuality.

Margot Robbie

The pink suit seen in the Barbie movie originates from Chanel’s spring/summer 1995 collection, first worn by supermodel Claudia Schiffer. Margot Robbie transforms the pink-and-white tweed suit into a real-life Barbie, marrying fashion and cinema. The outfit’s sweetness and strength pay tribute to the house while reintroducing Chanel’s classic vocabulary to a younger audience. Nearly three decades on, the look still feels utterly contemporary.

Tyla

Tyla’s affection for Chanel is almost overt. Beyond name-checking the brand in lyrics, she turns up at fashion weeks and award ceremonies in Chanel, blending vintage and modern effortlessly. In her music videos, she dons a spring/summer 1993 ready-to-wear pink corset dress, 1991 fall/winter waist chains, and the 2013 spring/summer hula-hoop bag. Each piece once defined the aesthetic of its era. In Tyla’s hands, they become nostalgic and progressive at once.

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