A reprint of our cover star Lily Collins interviewed in 2017, donned in total Chanel. Because of course!
In 2017, a girl came onto our radar. Our job at Fräulein consists of finding all kinds of personalities and talents to introduce you to- the only stipulation being that we find them inspiring in their endeavours and potential, or important in their line of work or creativity. We go through a lot of people every day, discussing and dissecting them amongst ourselves. We see a lot of incredible women, ranging from poets to Nobel-winning biochemists, to traditional Michelin-starred chefs and budding musicians.
We were introduced to Lily Collins, shortly before she went on to lose nearly all of her body weight to play the lead role of an anorexic coming-to-age girl in the drama To the Bone. Since that role, she has proven herself time and time again to be an actor with wide range, taking her craft and method acting seriously, and most recently, scoring a dreamy role any girl would consider a dream come true: going to the City of Lights to star in Emily in Paris.
Below, Pia Ahlert speaks with Lily about her long-standing over for Chanel. If only she knew what would await her just a few years down the line…
We include the original German conversation as well as a new English translation, alongside an exclusive shoot of Lily in F/W ’17 Chanel.
Rocket Girl
There are people that collect things because of their value or beauty. Actress Lily Collins collects things to make other people happy. With Fräulein she spoke about her passion for flea markets and her deep connection to the French fashion house Chanel.
It’s a Tuesday evening around 9pm, I’m enjoying my after work hours with some Netflix on the couch as Lily Collins’ management is calling me: „Lily would like to talk to you in 30 minutes.“ Well, that is spontaneous. After a short preparation I get one clear instruction: There is no way I can ask Lily about her father. Just this much: The actress’s father is the British music legend Phil Collins, composer of the iconic song Rocket Man. He apparently left Lily’s mother via fax-message and was hardly present as a father after that. But that’s really not the point today, our conversation will be about Lily, her career as an actress, and her love for fashion.
Lily made her screen debut in 2009 on the side of Sandra Bullock in Blind Side, followed by multiple movies and TV-shows. 2017 then led her to her first Golden Globe nomination, as best actress for her role in Warren Beatty’s comedy Rules Don’t Apply.
Her mother Jill is Lily’s biggest inspiration and her strongest support. „My mother always inspired me to evolve my personality and to try different things. She taught me that you can express yourself through clothes. Because of her I have my big love for vintage fashion and flea market strolls.“ When she was younger, Lily and her mother would sew unique Halloween costumes. Today her mother accompanies her at big movie premieres where she gets to wear beautiful couture gowns. „I am extremely honored to get the chance to work together with Chanel,“ she reveals, while she cannot get out of the amazement for Karl Lagerfeld’s creations. „Everything he does is well thought and considered, down to the smallest details. And despite Chanel being a very traditional house, he manages to create things that are out of the box and completely new.“
She first came into contact with the French fashion house through her grandmother: „She was a ballet dancer and incredibly elegant“, Lily says. „She always wore Chanel shoes and bags, and had many necklaces with which I played in a lot. Back then I didn’t know what the brand was, but I always loved the design. She was also the one who gave me my first Chanel bag, something I will never forget. When my grandmother died, I inherited her necklaces and now I feel very connected to the brand. Every time I wear Chanel, even if it is something new, I feel very close to my grandmother.“
While Lily speaks to me, she seems very mature for 28 years old, with already quite a reflective view on life. „It’s important to take the things you do very serious. I take my job very serious, although I have a lot of fun at the same time. Adult life can be exhausting. You tend to settle into your daily routine and thus become a bit blind to life. And that creates the risk of missing out on a lot of great possibilities. I always try to bring out the child in me, I’m not scared to look foolish or wear ridiculous clothes“. She appears young and carefree when she speaks, despite having a serious outlook on life. For example, she said that she once dressed up as fashion-police at school and distributed fines for bad outfits, even though she wore the worst of it herself. Or that she likes to collect silly things, like the little pieces of paper in fortune cookies so that people who enter her apartment have something to smile about. At the end of our conversation she also reveals something about Karl Lagerfeld: „Every memory that I have of Karl is how he makes me laugh out loud. That’s probably something most people don’t associate with him… but he is a really very funny man.“
