Exclusive: the making of a Chanel campaign starring Kristen Stewart – in pictures

• 

• 

  Directed by Daniel Askill, the short begins with a chandelier crashing to the floor of a dusty warehouse. Courtesy Chanel

• 

  As these exclusive behind-the-scenes images from the shooting of Stewart’s film suggest, things here take on a darker, frenetic pace. Stewart enters and appears to be searching for something. Courtesy Chanel

• 

  Stewart explains: “What we landed on ultimately was this search for Gabrielle Chanel’s spirit, and the fight that you can have with the idea of someone disappearing. It’s kind of eerie, but at the same time it is, ultimately, quite exuberant.” Courtesy Chanel

• 

  Stewart says: “The Gabrielle bag surfaces in the movie in a subtle way, and it almost represents the first glimpse that Gabrielle is allowing you to have of her. And I get happy. It’s kind of an affirmation; I’ve been validated. It feels good to hold it in my hands. And it leads me to her name, which is scrawled on the window.” Courtesy Chanel

• 

  In each of the films, the spirit of fashion’s grande dame manifests itself in the bag that bears her name. “May my legend prosper and thrive. I wish it a long and happy life,” said Gabrielle, before her death. With this new campaign, the legend lives on. Courtesy Chanel

• 

  Behind the scenes of the making of the campaign for the Gabrielle bag. Courtesy Chanel

Selina Denman

For the campaign for Chanel's newest bag, Gabrielle, Karl Lagerfeld plays with that not-yet-fully-answered question: who was Gabrielle Chanel? The campaign includes four films – below are some exclusive images of the making of Stewart's short. Read more about the Gabrielle bag here and see the video here.