Image by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

By Charlie Sawyer

Published Nov 22, 2022 at 11:33 AM

Reading time: 2 minutes

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It’s official—Margot Robbie has been unshackled from her Chanel contract and the internet is going feral with excitement. The Suicide Squad actress has ditched the bizarrely tailored jumpsuits, burned the stiff-looking mini shorts which should’ve been left in the 2000s, and is now leaping towards a far more modern and youthful red carpet look. Following her departure from the French fashion house, netizens everywhere are wondering what’s next for Hollywood’s favourite Aussie it girl.

Celebrity fashion is a perpetual staple in mainstream media. Whether it be tabloids, magazines, online publications or opinions shared on TikTok—it’s a constant cycle that we all pretend to not care about but secretly obsess over. And in the case of Robbie, the second she stepped in front of the cameras at the 2022 Governor Awards in Los Angeles on 19 November in a floor length olive green Bottega Veneta gown, the internet fully lost it.

Since 2018, after signing on to become an ambassador for the brand, Robbie has exclusively worn Chanel looks on the red carpet. While a number of publications, notably Vogue, deemed the actress a “mesmerising 21st century Chanel muse,” others found the luxury fashion house’s vision to be rather restrictive and unreflective of Robbie’s magnetism and personality. In layman’s terms, the partnership made Robbie look a tad boring.

While the iconic brand has served a number of celebrities very well (Penélope Cruz, Keira Knightley, and Lily-Rose Depp, to name a few) there was a resounding feeling among fans that Chanel’s style didn’t quite fit the aura and vibe of everyone’s much-anticipated Barbie girl.

Strangely enough, you don’t have to look very hard to find other celebrities who’ve been unfortunately burnt by the Chanel brush over the years. When Kristen Stewart, the brand’s newly appointed muse for 2023, took to the 2022 Oscars red carpet in those shorts—c’mon we all remember them—Twilight stans swarmed TikTok begging the actress to reconsider her choices.

As resident fashion analyst and TikToker @oldloserinbrooklyn tells us, Stewart has been attached to the Chanel label since 2013—in fact, she was hand-selected by the late creative director Karl Lagerfeld as one of the recognisable faces of the brand before he passed in 2019. As the creator further explains, Chanel’s two-silhouette approach when it comes to Stewart’s red carpet outfits has massively restricted the actress from serving us killer looks.

But back to the Australian actress. Robbie’s stylist for the evening, Kate Young, shared images of the 32-year-old’s look at the Governor Awards and fans flooded Instagram to show their appreciation for the recent style overhaul. One user commented: “Never ever stop dressing her in Bottega!” While another fan of The Wolf of Wall Street star wrote, “Margot Robbie being a Bottega girl makes so much sense.”

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A post shared by Kate Young (@kateyoung)

TikTok also hosted a fair few videos from netizens praising Robbie’s fashion turnaround. In one video, which at the time of writing has amassed over 135,000 views, images were showcased from the past week where Robbie stepped out in three different equally iconic Bottega Veneta looks.

One fan commented, “the Chanel curse has been broken!” while another chimed in, “her new era is stunning!” Now it seems gen Zers and millennials are collectively speculating if Robbie will dedicate her allegiance to the considerably cooler Italian brand.

Much of Bottega’s revival is accredited to Daniel Lee, creative director from 2018 to 2021, and Matthieu Blazy, the current director. Both men are far younger than Chanel’s presiding executive team and have brought a breath of fresh air to the brand—cementing Bottega Veneta as a favourite among celebrities and fashion insiders alike.