Phoebe Tonkin Chanel
Credit: Courtesy of Chanel

Following the Chanel Cruise 2022-23 collection’s pulse-racing debut on Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel, there were few addresses on the planet to that could come close in terms of energy and excitement for the replica show. But few were counting on the Baz Luhrmann-designed splendour of Faena Beach Miami, where Pharrell Williams, Lily-Rose Depp, Marion Cotillard, Caroline de Maigret and Phoebe Tonkin took to their cabanas for an exhilarating race to the photo finish. GRAZIA met Phoebe Tonkin post-show to chat women in the arts, and the look on her wish list…

GRAZIA: Being tapped by the House of Chanel must have been a really big moment for you. Do you remember where you were when you got the call all those years ago? And how did it feel?

Phoebe: I’ve started working with Chanel nearly seven years ago. So it’s been a slow build of my relationship with the house. And I just feel so lucky to be an ambassador and I feel very lucky that it’s a house and a designer, a brand that aligns with my own fashion values, my moral values, and I just feel very lucky to be a part of this Chanel family.

GRAZIA: When you say your moral values and personal values, what do you mean by that?

Phoebe: I just think Chanel is a big supporter of women in the arts, women in film, women in music, women in literature, and I love being part of a brand that really supports and empowers women in that way. And then in terms of style, my style is very similar to the way that I would say that the Chanel girl dresses. It’s fun, but sophisticated, classy, but timeless. And that is what I think the Chanel girl embodies, and that is how I would dress every day anyway.

Phoebe Tonkin chanel
Credit: Courtesy of Chanel

GRAZIA: Now we’ve just seen the Cruise collection, which draws on Monte-Carlo in the iconography of the French Riviera. What’s your favourite look from the collection?

Phoebe: So there was one look that was really beautiful, and it’s a white, sparkly kind of crochet dress that I hopefully will be able to wear in the coming months because I just love it. It’s so beautiful. It had a little black sparkly jacket over it. It was beautiful, like crochet.

GRAZIA: Have you ever been to the French Riviera?

Phoebe: I’ve been to Cannes with Chanel.

GRAZIA: What was your favourite memory?

Phoebe: I went to Grasse and I saw where the rose and jasmine was made into perfume. It was a really incredible experience

GRAZIA: As an actress, how important is fashion to you?

Phoebe: I think in my craft, I think that anytime that I get to celebrate a project that I’m working on, be it a premiere or a festival, and being able to be supported by Chanel in that way and dressed by them, most of the events I go to, I’m wearing Chanel and I just feel so lucky that I get to and that they get to support me in those big moments in my life when I’m promoting something that really means something special to me whether an award show or anything else. But I really think that I get to play characters in my ordinary job and then I get to be a little bit more glamorous off camera…

GRAZIA: in a cabana…

Phoebe: in Miami!

Phoebe Tonkin Chanel
Credit: Courtesy of Chanel

GRAZIA: Do you find that dressing for the role helps you in your day job? How does fashion help you become somebody else?

Phoebe: For my job, I wouldn’t necessarily call being on set is fashion, I would say it’s more costume and that’s why it’s so nice, especially when I get to go to an event like this to sort of dress more how I would dress and show that I’m playing a character. And that’s how the style of Chanel really aligns with how I would ordinarily dress myself anyway.

GRAZIA: Now, you’ve had a long relationship with the house, you met Karl. How do you see the spirit of the house evolving with Virginie?

Phoebe: I’ve been really fortunate I’ve been able to attend to over two of Virginie’s shows now and she is just spectacular. And I think everything that she’s designed over the last few years it’s been so beautiful but innately still Chanel and I just wanted to be able to wear anything that Virginie designs, it’s just absolutely beautiful. Beautiful.

Phoebe Tonkin chanel
Credit: Courtesy of Chanel

GRAZIA: Your beauty is always kept to a minimum, what skin and make up are you loving at the moment?

Phoebe: I really like the No. 1 range. There is a moisturiser that I really really like and then I don’t wear a lot of makeup, so I like the Chanel matte lip colours and I like the balm which I put on my cheeks and my eyelids and so that and like a nice lip colour and then I put a little bit of a lip colour on my cheeks. I like the kind of dusty rose.

GRAZIA: You’ve got some really exciting projects coming up on screen. What do you think GRAZIA readers will love the most?

Phoebe: I’m doing a show right now that I’m really proud of and really excited about it’s going to be on Netflix next year. Good Boy Swallows Universe, and it’s just a really powerful story about adversity and magic and family and love and it’s going to be really good. So I hope people tune in when that comes out next year.

GRAZIA: How are you enjoying Miami?

Phoebe: I mean, it’s Miami, it’s amazing. I went on a swim this morning at seven in the morning and then I had a swim on the first day I arrived. Miami is amazing. I’ve been here a couple of times but it feels wonderful to be here with Chanel. It’s so beautiful and so glamorous and they’ve made this beach looks so gorgeous. So I feel really lucky.