How Chanel’s Timeless Codes Shape Florian Zeller’s New Cinematic Thriller

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When fashion enters the world of cinema, clothing can become far more than costume. It can establish character, reveal emotion, create tension, and quietly foreshadow what is yet to come. In Florian Zeller’s highly anticipated new feature film Bunker, CHANEL brings this philosophy to life through an elegant collaboration with acclaimed costume designer Sonia Grande.

Premiering in competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in September 2026, Bunker brings together an exceptional international cast led by CHANEL House ambassador Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, alongside Stephen Graham, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Paul Dano.

The collaboration marks another chapter in CHANEL’s enduring relationship with cinema and its commitment to contemporary filmmaking.

A Story Where Elegance Meets Unease

Directed by Florian Zeller, the acclaimed playwright and filmmaker behind The Father, Bunker explores the fragile balance between comfort, ambition, morality, and fear.

At its centre are Sofia and Miguel, an intellectual middle-class couple living in London. Sofia, portrayed by Penélope Cruz, is an editor of foreign literature, while Miguel, played by Javier Bardem, is a celebrated architect. Their seemingly perfect existence — filled with professional commitments, dinners and art exhibitions — begins to unravel when Miguel is approached by a technology billionaire to design an extraordinary bunker intended to protect against the end of the world.

What begins as an architectural commission soon becomes a profound moral dilemma for Sofia, placing pressure on the couple and challenging the carefully constructed world they inhabit.

Against this psychological backdrop, fashion becomes an important part of the storytelling.

The CHANEL Red Dress

Created in collaboration with Sonia Grande, CHANEL designed the opening look for Sofia: a striking draped red satin dress, finished with a delicate camellia at the waist.

Worn during a contemporary art exhibition and subsequent dinner, the dress immediately commands attention.

Its vivid red hue stands apart from the film’s otherwise neutral and minimalist visual environment. The asymmetrical silhouette introduces movement and sensuality, while the camellia — one of CHANEL’s most recognisable house symbols — adds an unmistakable signature.

But the dress is more than beautiful.

It becomes a visual signal.

Against the controlled world surrounding Sofia and Miguel, its intensity suggests seduction, disruption and the possibility of tragedy. Later, when the dress appears hanging quietly in Sofia’s wardrobe, it takes on another meaning — almost like a costume left behind after a performance, silently witnessing the transformation that is about to take place.

Chanel Codes, Woven Into Character

The relationship between CHANEL and Bunker extends beyond the statement dress.

Sofia’s wardrobe is complemented by CHANEL optical glasses and a supple flap bag, bringing sophistication into her professional world without compromising the character’s understated elegance.

Fine jewellery and watchmaking further develop the visual identity of both protagonists.

Miguel wears a CHANEL J12 BLEU watch with Calibre 12.1, distinguished by its matt finish. Sofia’s jewellery includes COCO CRUSH rings and bracelet, together with BOUTON DE CAMÉLIA earrings. On her wrist, she alternates between the PREMIÈRE RUBAN and BOY-FRIEND watches.

Each piece contributes subtly to the characters’ identities, demonstrating how luxury accessories can function as elements of cinematic language.

Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem Reunited

The film also marks another compelling reunion for Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem.

The Spanish actors first appeared together in Bigas Luna’s Jamón Jamón in 1992 and reunited on screen in Asghar Farhadi’s Everybody Knows in 2018.

Under Zeller’s direction, they once again share the screen — this time portraying a sophisticated London couple whose seemingly ordered existence is confronted by an extraordinary threat.

Their performances, combined with Grande’s costume design and CHANEL’s carefully selected pieces, create a visual world where elegance and psychological tension coexist.

Florian Zeller and the Art of Adaptation

For Florian Zeller, Bunker represents another evolution of a career that began in theatre.

His internationally acclaimed plays established him as one of the most celebrated contemporary playwrights before he moved behind the camera with The Father in 2021.

The film earned more than 160 nominations and awards worldwide, including Academy Awards for Anthony Hopkins and Zeller himself.

With Bunker, Zeller continues to explore intimate human relationships against extraordinary circumstances, bringing together psychological storytelling, international cinema and sophisticated visual language.

CHANEL and the Seventh Art

CHANEL’s connection with cinema is deeply rooted in the legacy of Gabrielle Chanel, whose understanding of fashion extended naturally into the worlds of art, performance and film.

Its collaboration with Sonia Grande on Bunker continues that tradition, following previous partnerships on Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces and The Human Voice.

Here, fashion does not simply accompany the story. It participates in it.

Through colour, silhouette, jewellery and detail, CHANEL helps construct a character while contributing to the atmosphere of the film itself.

In Bunker, elegance becomes a language — sometimes seductive, sometimes unsettling, and always deliberate.

As cinema continues to blur the boundaries between fashion, art and storytelling, CHANEL once again demonstrates why its presence on screen remains so powerful: not merely as a symbol of luxury, but as a timeless vocabulary for character, emotion and imagination.