The creative director of Chanel shuns the ‘Wild West’ look: ‘We already have too many cowboys in this world’

He has the most coveted phone book in Paris. In fact, it might even be one of the most-desired in the world. His contacts include the personal cell numbers of Martin Scorsese, Marion Cotillard, Gisele Bündchen, Luca Guadagnino, Lily-Rose Depp, Margot Robbie and Timothée Chalamet. When Thomas du Pré de Saint Maur, 57, decides to dial a number, you can tell that no one on the other end will be able to resist him. Anyone who sees his name on the screen is practically touched by Lady Luck. Who dares to say “no” to a Chanel ad?

“Almodóvar did, for example.” He reveals the Spanish director’s rejection with a laugh, relaxed on the sofa in his Parisian office. The space is almost as bright as he is. “Tarantino also turned me down. [He was] much more ambitious: he wanted to star in the film. And that was completely impossible,” he explains.

Du Pré, born in the wealthy Paris suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine, is the son of French aristocracy and Venezuelan bourgeoisie. This well-balanced mix manifests itself in his easy laugh, lightheartedness and good sense of humor. However, he claims to have a melancholic temperament and only reads “sad novels” by Stendhal (The Charterhouse of Parma being his favorite), or War and Peace by Tolstoy.

Does he read anything by Dostoevsky? “Never,” he replies emphatically. He answers this newspaper’s questions in fluent Spanish, interspersed with entire sentences in English and French.

Since 2014, he has held the position with the longest title at the house: head of Global Creative Resources for Chanel Fragrance, Beauty, Watches and Jewellery. Among his responsibilities is keeping a legend alive: Chanel N°5.

Du Pré is the person who decides the face of the fashion house’s fragrances. He sat down with EL PAÍS to discuss the latest star he has signed: Jacob Elordi, the new brand ambassador for Bleu de Chanel L’Exclusif. The Australian actor appears in The Chase, a cinematic advertisement directed by Alfonso Cuarón, the Mexican filmmaker behind masterpieces like Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018).

For the first time, a Chanel advertisement is an action film. Instead of quiet, contemplative scenes, we’re plunged into a chase. “You can’t spend your life just admiring yourself,” the creative director explains. The idea of ​​changing direction came to him in 2024 while filming the N°5 commercial with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, directed by Luca Guadagnino.

“For 15 years, we’ve made existential stories; narratives where the man always re-evaluates his entire life. This time around, I was looking for something deeper and more sensory. And, with Cuarón, we’ve achieved it by using action, without excessive testosterone. That’s why I chose Elordi; he’s like an action hero, but there’s something very gentle about him.”

He says that it wasn’t his intention to give a face and texture to contemporary masculinity… but perhaps he’s ended up doing so. “I hate when people pressure me: ‘Express your feminine side!’ Give me a break! No, it’s not that; it’s something more sensitive and fragile that’s neither masculine nor feminine. It’s gentle,” he insists.

He’s a bit fed up: he says that, for 30 years, people have been trying to define the new masculinity. “In such a fragmented world, it’s better to accept that there isn’t just one single expression of masculinity. I’d say it should be more tender. I want to believe that there’s more tenderness than testosterone in the world. Only that will save us.”

Balance has been the great discovery of the shoot. “In the [2024 campaign] for N°5 (titled See You at 5), the characters played by Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi weren’t at all balanced; he’s impulsive, always on edge, while she — calmer and more experienced — is in control. In the Bleu L’Exclusif story, they’re equals… and I find that to be very modern. There are no cowboys; we already have too many of them in this world. Aggressive, dominant masculinity is making a terrible comeback. I don’t like it at all, which is why this ad revolves around sensuality, not testosterone.”

When asked what it was like working with Alfonso Cuarón, Du Pré answers: “Great. I’m not a masochist by any means. Working with people who treat you like dirt and only want your money? No, that’s unacceptable. And there are many people who are like that, unpleasant and selfish.”

He recounts that Cuarón had two months free in his schedule. “That’s almost a miracle with these talented people who work so much and usually have their schedules booked for three or four years. In my mind, he wasn’t the best director to make an action movie. However, I liked how he had filmed men. So, I said to myself: ‘Let’s give it a try.’”

Du Pré notes that he goes into film shoots “lightheartedly.”

“I try not to get too anxious. If it doesn’t go well, we just do it again and it’ll work out.” He also doesn’t talk much with the actors, only with the director. “We work a lot. And, when we reach an agreement, he takes charge of giving his vision to the actors. [By that point], there’s little I can do, because the conversation is cinematic. They understand each other… and Cuarón is a huge talent.”

Du Pré has held his position as creative director since 2014. One of his predecessors was Jacques Helleu (1938-2007), “the guardian of the maison’s good taste.” The mission was entrusted to him by Pierre Wertheimer when he was just 18. In 1968, Helleu chose Catherine Deneuve as the face of N° 5 and commissioned famous photographers such as Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton to leave their mark on the house.

It was Helleu’s idea to begin collaborations with film giants. In 1978, he involved British director Ridley Scott in La Piscine — the first film featuring Chanel N° 5 — and later recruited Luc Besson and Roman Polanski for his aesthetic ventures. In the early 1990s, he directed advertising campaigns with Jean-Paule Goude, such as the one for the Égoïste perfume.

Helleu’s definitive theatrical breakthrough came when he made The Film with Nicole Kidman, then at the height of her fame for Moulin Rouge, with director Baz Luhrmann. This was the 2004 N° 5 commercial.

It is this very legacy that Du Pré has inherited; he made his debut in 2014 with a spectacular advert for No. 5 that is still remembered today: Gisele Bündchen surfing waves around the world. “For that film, we needed waves. We went to Baiona, then to Fiji, then to Hawaii and, finally, to Tahiti. Two weeks of travel to film one hour. In Tahiti, the waves were like a 40-story building. We had the Brazilian surfing champion with us… and she broke her nose on the first try. In the end, we got the 12-year-old son of the local king: we put a wig on him, he caught a wave and we were able to film. Things never happen the way you imagine them.”

Bleu de Chanel L’Exclusif, the fragrance championed by Elordi, is an eau de parfum created in 2018 by Olivier Polge. He’s the son of Jacques Polge, the former head perfumer at Chanel who, back in 2010, launched the first version — an eau de toilette — with the same name. French actor Gaspard Ulliel was its first and only ambassador until his death in 2022; he was succeeded by Timothée Chalamet in 2023 and by the Australian actor in 2026.

According to Du Pré, each of these stages has signaled changes in contemporary masculinity.

“15 years ago, men wore colognes that gave them headaches, very strong ones; that’s how power was expressed. What’s interesting is that, [over the past] 15 years, they’ve embraced complexity in the world of fragrances. Today, almost no man has a problem wearing an eau de parfum, a more refined and complex scent. What we’ve experienced in this decade is a shift toward complexity in men’s fragrances, while women are going in the opposite direction and seeking monofloral fragrances,” he explains.

The creative director enjoys talking. Non-stop. In fact, he says that he can’t stop. “You can wake me up at eight in the morning and I’ll launch into a speech,” he warns, adding: “I’m not one of those solitary creative types who get their ideas in silence. In French we call it ‘logo moteur’ — in other words, I need to talk in order to think. I can’t come up with anything on my own. In a conversation with someone, yes. If I don’t talk, I get bored.”

Is it possible to believe that Pedro Almodóvar said “no” to Du Pré?

“Well,” the Frenchman clarifies, “he set conditions. He only wanted to work with Penélope Cruz, but she was already committed to Lancôme. It wasn’t possible. It was more of a ‘not right now.’”

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