When Karl Lagerfeld passed away in February 2019, an epoch came to an end. Over a transformative 36-year tenure at 31 Rue Cambon, the visionary couturier had revitalised Chanel from a slumbering heritage label into the world’s most formidable luxury fashion house. Along the way, he hand-picked a legendary lineage of muses – from Inès de la Fressange and Claudia Schiffer to Keira Knightley and Lily-Rose Depp. Yet amidst that illustrious roll call, one woman holds a singular place in fashion history: Australia’s Margot Robbie, the final global ambassador Lagerfeld ever personally welcomed into the maison.

While ambassadorial contracts in modern fashion often feel purely transactional, Robbie’s appointment in March 2018 was forged under the couturier’s direct gaze. Today, as she fronts global campaigns for Chanel No. 5 and continues to anchor front rows from Paris to Sydney, her relationship with the house remains uniquely grounded in that late-career blessing from fashion’s most formidable titan.

The 2018 Oscars: A Bespoke Introduction to Rue Cambon

Chanel did not ease Robbie into the family with an understated press statement or a modest cocktail dress. Her ambassadorship was unveiled on 4 March 2018, the morning of the 90th Academy Awards, where the Queensland-born talent was nominated for Best Actress for her revelatory turn in I, Tonya.

To mark her debut, Lagerfeld personally designed a bespoke white Chanel Haute Couture gown crafted from pure silk georgette, accented by a subtle corsetry bodice and garland-draped crystal tube straps. The Paris ateliers poured over 550 hours of hand embroidery and construction into the creation, ensuring her baptism into the house was nothing short of monumental. “It’s a dream to represent such a timeless and iconic brand,” Robbie said upon the announcement, acknowledging the powerful feminine standard the house had preserved for decades.

Behind the Lens for the Launch of Coco Neige

Their collaboration swiftly deepened beyond formal red carpet dressing. Later that year, Lagerfeld selected Robbie to front the inaugural campaign for Coco Neige, Chanel’s first dedicated high-altitude winter sports collection. Rather than delegating the shoot to a commercial fashion photographer, the octogenarian designer stepped behind the lens himself to direct and photograph his new muse.

Captured against a painted Alpine sky, Robbie posed in chunky cable knits, technical tweeds and shearling chapkas, radiating an athletic elegance that resonated with Lagerfeld’s vision of modern sportswear. Robbie later reflected warmly on witnessing the designer’s relentless discipline in the studio. When Lagerfeld passed away less than a year later, Robbie honoured their brief yet intense connection publicly. “A heavy heart today over the loss of a true icon,” Robbie said. “Karl’s creativity, energy and tireless spirit knew no bounds. It was an honour to work with him and to watch him work.”

Archival Reverence at the Met Gala

Robbie’s devotion to Lagerfeld was cast in sharp relief at the 2023 Met Gala, which celebrated the designer’s retrospective exhibition, Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty. While many attendees opted for contemporary pastiche or whimsical reinterpretations of his signature aesthetic, Robbie went straight to the archive.

She arrived on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in an exacting recreation of a Spring/Summer 1993 Haute Couture gown originally modelled on the runway by Cindy Crawford. The black asymmetrical dress, defined by a transparent boned bodice laced with gold Chanel chains, proved to be one of the night’s most poignant gestures. “I’m wearing Chanel, this dress was worn by Cindy Crawford in 1993,” Robbie explained on the red carpet. “They remade it for me and it’s obviously a Karl design. I feel really great in it.”

The Last Muse in a New Era

Fashion partnerships rarely survive creative turnover, let alone the seismic shifts of a luxury maison restructuring its creative leadership. Yet Robbie’s status has endured seamlessly through the tenure of Virginie Viard and into the newly appointed reign of Matthieu Blazy.

Her enduring resonance was on full display in October 2026, when Chanel presented its Cruise replica show in Sydney. Seated front row at Barangaroo’s The Cutaway wearing a delicate silk lingerie-inspired set alongside fellow Australian icon Nicole Kidman, Robbie represented the continuity of the house. She is not merely a celebrity muse; she remains the living, sartorial bridge to Karl Lagerfeld’s final chapter.