Chanel Created the Main Character Hat of Fall and Zazie Beets Wants It Now

At Chanel’s fall 2024 show, models wore giant sun hats in pastel pink and blue shades. They are, by definition, main character hats, which means that these are accessories for those of us with outsized personalities–or at least a sense of bold personal style. Come next season, wearing these standout toppers will make everyone within a five-foot radius feel like an extra.

Actress Zazie Beets immediately picked up on that while watching the show from the front row in Paris on Tuesday. “I LOVED the big beach hats,” she said. “For me, they [the hats] take away all of the seriousness of this [fashion week]. Chanel is interesting because Virginie Viard creates these classic shapes and silhouettes, which I’ve always been drawn to. The pieces have a traditional femininity to them. But then I think she can take that and make it a bit camp—like with those hats.”

Beetz saw the sun hats as accessories that made the other outfits on the runway even more fun, and the vibe of the show helped her envision a sartorial character she wants to portray off-screen, IRL. “Playing into that character in real life is what I really like!” she said.

Beetz opted for a chic and whimsical look to attend the Chanel show—a strapless knit orange dress with a beaded belt and a black coat with floral embellishments on the sleeves. “I was immediately drawn to the color of this dress because it's my favorite color! And I just loved the brightness of the beading. It felt very playful and feminine, but at the same time, grown up and hot, too.”

When she describes her approach to dressing day-to-day, Beetz says that she likes a good mash-up. “I would say my style is a blend,” she notes “I love older silhouettes, like those from the Victorian age or anything from the French Renaissance. I like that [sense of] play! That whimsy! The costumery of it all!” She sees that in Chanel because each piece by the house possesses, in her words, “storybook wonder—there’s almost a fairytale feeling to it all.” She also notes, “It’s also quite classic, and I have an antique-y style in general. Overall, I like an old thing.”

However, nothing has influenced Beetz’s personal style like the streetwear magazine Fruits, which chronicled Harajuku fashion in Japan. One day, her father brought it home for her as a teen, and it “completely overhauled” her sense of fashion, dressing, and expression. “From that day forward, I was just so obsessed with color and play. I am always taking whatever I want to wear and adding a twist to it.” And those extra-large Chanel hats are precisely the expressive flourishes she has her eye on next.

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