Something Borrowed: Margot Robbie's CHANEL Beauty and the Art of the Party
Images courtesy of CHANEL
There are parties, and then there are parties that arrive with a passport. On 5 November, CHANEL brought a little Biarritz to Sydney, presenting its Cruise 2026/27 collection at The Cutaway in Barangaroo. It was the house's first ever runway show in Australia, and the city dressed accordingly.
The front row read like a very good seating plan: Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue, Olivia DeJonge. Later that night, Kylie took to the stage at the after-party, which is the kind of detail that leaves every other wedding playlist looking slightly underprepared.
But it is Margot's beauty we keep coming back to. That, and the evening itself, which was less a fashion show than a masterclass in hosting.
Beneath the salon, the beach
The collection is Matthieu Blazy's first Cruise for the house, unveiled in April in Biarritz, the seaside town where Gabrielle Chanel opened her first couture house outside Paris in 1915. Its title, Sous le salon, la plage, translates as beneath the salon, the beach, and the clothes take the idea literally: the little black dress, the double C and the marinière, reworked with shell-like paillettes, a red dress sculpted like coral, sequinned mermaid gowns and swim caps that recall the costumes Chanel designed for the 1924 ballet Le Train Bleu.
On the runway, and front of house
The beauty we're saving
Margot wore a sheer white silk dress from the Spring Summer 2027 ready-to-wear collection, with a feathered camellia at the bust, a quilted black flap bag and sparkling earrings. On paper, that is a fashion moment. In person, it was a beauty one.
That softly swept bob, tucked behind one ear. Luminous skin, with the freckles still showing. A rose-nude lip and just enough definition around the eyes. Nothing fighting for attention; everything quietly correct.
This is the wedding-day beauty we love: polished, romantic and still entirely you. The kind your grandmother approves of at the ceremony and you still recognise in the photographs twenty years on.
Skin first. Freckles stay. The lip does the talking.
Save this for your makeup trial.
- Ask for skin, not coverage. A light base, sheer wherever you can get away with it, and glow placed only where the light naturally lands.
- Keep the freckles. They are the difference between a face and a finish.
- Define, don't line. A little shape through the lashes and brows does more in daylight than a full smoky eye.
- Choose a rose-nude lip a shade deeper than your own. It photographs as you, only better rested.
- Sweep the hair off the face, not up and away. A deep side part and a tucked ear read modern beneath a veil.
And the question we have been debating all week: would you wear your hair this short on your wedding day? We think the bob makes a very good case. A veil sits beautifully against it, the neckline gets its moment, and it will never collapse before the speeches.
The guest list
Nicole Kidman chose a look from the same collection: a black grain de poudre jacket and matching trousers over a snow silk top and crisp white shirt, black tie with its waistcoat on show. Kylie Minogue wore an ecru cashmere silk cardigan and matching skirt from the Spring Summer 2027 pre-collection, cinched with layered chain belts. Baz Luhrmann and Joel Edgerton took care of the tailoring, while Christine Centenera, Olivia DeJonge and Dom Dolla filled out a room that felt, for one evening, like the most Parisian night Sydney has had in years.
How to host a party, according to CHANEL
Every wedding is, at heart, a very well-organised party. CHANEL simply throws them better than almost anyone. A few notes we took home.
Choose a room with bones, then let them show. The Cutaway sits beneath Barangaroo Reserve, on Gadigal Country, and the house kept its raw sandstone in plain sight. Around it went an Art Deco-inspired setting of five interconnected rooms: mirrors, pale carpet, rare objects placed beside everyday ones, all in the house's black and beige. The venue was not disguised. It was edited.
Make it feel lived in. Those everyday objects were a nod to Gabrielle Chanel's apartment at 31 rue Cambon. For a wedding, it is the difference between a function room and a home: books on a side table, a favourite chair, the family's good glassware.
Borrow from your locals. When CHANEL takes a collection on tour, the set largely stays the same and the city leaves its mark. Here, that meant ceramic vessels by Damion Fuller, a ceramicist and surfer from the New South Wales north coast. Commission a local maker for your tables and you have a centrepiece and a story.
Two sittings can be better than one. The show was walked twice, once in the afternoon and again at six. If the guest list is long and the room is not, hold the ceremony for everyone and keep the candlelit dinner for those closest.
Seat for chemistry. Put a surfer beside two Oscar nominees and see what happens: Jack Robinson had Margot Robbie in fits of laughter. Mix your tables. The best photographs come from the unlikely pairings.
Change for the after-party, then move. The celebration crossed to Pier 2/3 in Walsh Bay, and both Kylie and Margot changed outfits for it. Consider this formal permission for the second dress.
Book the act no one expects. Kylie performed, then DJs Kinder Sounds and Jimmy Lyell took the night home. Not every couple can book a pop icon. Every couple can book one surprise.
Get the room right, get the people right, and let the beauty look like you.
Sydney waited a long time for CHANEL to show here. The house arrived with a collection about the seaside, a set about the home and a guest list about Australia, and left behind a very simple lesson for anyone planning a wedding this summer.
Then have Kylie close the night. Or the closest thing you can find.
CHANEL Cruise 2026/27, presented at The Cutaway, Barangaroo, Sydney, 5 November 2026. Images courtesy of CHANEL.
