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Charlee Fraser’s recent stint in Paris couldn’t be further away from her happily unworried character, Margaret, in this past summer’s most-hyped film Anyone But You. In one scene, the Australian model-come-actor had audiences in fits of laughter as she stripped off and snuffed the flames of a small house fire with all but her umber slip dress.
Little did she realise at the time, it would be this breakout film role that would see the house of Chanel come tapping. And this Fall/Winter 2024 season, the Newcastle-born, proud Awabakal beauty, 28, was whisked to Paris as a guest of the French luxuriate. Here, she was metaphorically transported to Les Planches de Deauville, a famous promenade along the Normandy seaside where Gabrielle Chanel opened her second boutique in 1913.
“It was as though I was experiencing the mind of Gabrielle Chanel whilst walking the boardwalk in Deauville,” Fraser tells GRAZIA of the atmosphere at the show in Paris. “Dreamy and inspiring. There was a lot of integrity and fidelity with so many odes to Gabrielle and her time there.”
Inspired by the ever-changing colours of the Deauville sky, Chanel’s creative director Virginie Viard punctured the Maison’s monochrome code with salmons, mauves, starburst yellows and pale blues. Models wore up-turned, wide-brimmed sun hats with brooches while chunky sailor sweaters and knits mixed with boxy tweed jackets and relaxed, robe-style overcoats.
Dressed in a set from Chanel’s Metier d’Art show in Manchester in December, Fraser invited us into her hotel pre-show.
“I love [my look] because [the Metier d’Art] collection demonstrated something punkish and youthful,” she says. “I enjoy exploring and experimenting with my individual style so much and I was so excited to be able to experience this with Chanel.”
Ten years ago, Fraser shot to fame when she was scouted and signed to powerhouse IMG. Her breakout moment as a model came when the iconic hairstylist Guido Palau famously chopped her long hair into a bob right before she hit the Alexander Wang runway at New York Fashion Week in 2016. Fraser was immediately dubbed the “new face to know” by American Vogue and caught the eye of top casting directors. That season she walked 40 shows, including Prada, Balenciaga, Dior, Givenchy, Céline…and Chanel.
Of her next project post Anyone But You, Fraser says, she’s “currently immersing myself in the community of art and film.”
“I feel incredibly lucky to have made deep creative connections and developed so many of these relationships so my focus is on nurturing these and working collectively on projects I love.”
Fraser next film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will hit cinemas in May — a long world from Margaret’s.
CREDITS:
MAKEUP: Victoria Baron using CHANEL Beauty
HAIR: Michele McQuillian
