Sofia Coppola has debuted her latest project — and it’s not a film. The renowned director has teamed up with Scottish heritage cashmere house Barrie to create a capsule collection designed for travel, work, and leisure.
While films like Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette are known for their distinctive sartorial approach, Coppola’s own style goes more under the radar. “I like classic timeless, understated pieces for every day, without being too boring,” she notes. Indeed, the director is often seen sporting jeans and a classic button down to events.
You’ll also enjoy:
The Perfect Pair; The Best Denim Brands For Women Stand The Test Of Time
The Best Women’s Work Clothing Brands For Stylish Back-To-Office Finds
Shh! These Are The 8 Best Quiet Luxury Watches
“She wears clothes extremely well,” remarks Augustin Dol-Maillot, creative director of Barrie. “She has a true sense of fashion, but also a feeling for materials and details. She isn’t exuberant, her style is very on-point and precise, like the collection itself. You can know immediately what will work for her. She knows how to create a very personal mood, just like in her films.”
A longtime Chanel ambassador, Coppola discovered Barrie through her work with the French luxury fashion house; with the Scottish cashmere brand joining the elite group of Chanel Métiers d’Art houses in 2012. One of the oldest cashmere knitwear houses in Scotland, Barrie was founded in the town of Hawick, on the banks of the river Teviot, in 1903 and quickly established itself as a purveyor of fine craftsmanship.
Utilising tradition and technology in equal measure, the Barrie workshop sees 70-year-old Bentley Cotton looms coexist alongside high-tech Shima Seiki machines, with the assembly process continuing to be done by hand over a century after the manufacture’s founding. Currently helmed by Augustin Dol-Maillot — who previously worked with Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard at Chanel — Barrie translates the house’s heritage traditions and undeniable savoir-faire into contemporary, sartorially minded designs designed to transcend trends and remain in wardrobes for decades to come.
The collaboration sees Coppola and Doll-Maillot create a capsule collection designed for travelling, allowing for pieces to be mixed and matched or worn separately. The colour palette takes shape in neutral tones of black, navy, and grey, alongside pops of khaki and baby pink. The collection includes a cashmere and cotton military-style jacket, a padded down jacket, wool leggings, jumpsuits, and a surplus of sweaters. Stripes and colour-blocked details appear throughout.
Refined yet playful, the collection sees Coppola remix classic silhouettes for the modern day, bringing a sense of freshness to the heritage cashmere house.
“The Barrie pieces I’ve bought over the years, I wear over and over again and they never look worn or pilly, so they really last and they are timeless,” said Coppola of the impetus behind the collaboration. “I love the classic cardigans, the weight, the feeling, and the colours. I wear those a lot and the men’s crew neck sweaters.”
Shot in a hotel suite, the accompanying campaign stars actress (and fellow Chanel ambassador) Margaret Qualley and was photographed by Melodie McDaniel, a longtime friend of Coppola’s. “I wanted it to look like snapshots of a weekend stay in Paris,” says Coppola. “I’m always inspired by Paris and Tokyo — I love to see how people dress there and there’s so much style and interest in fashion.”
The Barrie + Sofia Coppola collection is priced from $420AUD to $11,560AUD and is now available via the Barrie webstore.
Words by Esmé Duggan
