How to be the next Sofia Coppola
A guideline and a gift guide.
First, I recommend one can start with a playlist curated by Sofia, to get yourself in the mood. Although it was more likely curated by her husband, which is relatively the same thing, both of them have excellent taste in music.
Intern at Chanel under Karl Lagerfeld’s tutelage (screams nepo, so jealous)
Attend a cool liberal arts college and major in painting.
Take up photography. Film camera only.
Have a bestie whose family were also legends in the film biz and get 90’s MTV to give you two a show that would today be ultra Gen Z (Sofia & Zoe Cassavetes were super ahead of the times).
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Start an independent t-shirt line that only sold in cool places like Japan.
Marry said heir/film director, be that young power couple who are both friends with Wes Anderson.
Divorce heir/filmmaker husband and write a movie about your marriage.
The rest is common pop history if you’ve followed Sofia for the last 20 yrs or at least since Lost in Translation first came out, which is said to be about her time living in Tokyo, anyone with a Pinterest could’ve learned these things about her. And obviously, you can’t imitate Sofia’s life, but you can be inspired by elements that have contributed to her creative drive.
DEEPER DIVE ON BEING SOFIA
How is it that her persona has been casual cool and laid back that we forgot that she basically paved the way for industry nepo babies? But at least the way Sofia has evolved since her first celluloid cameo as in infant in the Godfather 2 (the infamous baptism scene, that was baby Sof) all the way up to adult Oscar winner having come from one of the most legacy showbiz families. I think I have the answer. The single way she is different than all the other nepos that have come before and after her, is that she wasn’t raised in Los Angeles. Her childhood may have consumed mostly of traveling to far off film locations, it’s evident that the Coppola clan has kept Napa, California as their loyal, home base. And she grew up in old Napa, way before how it is now with the variety of overpriced patisseries and Michelin star restaurants.
Creativity certainly runs in her blood on both sides of the family tree. Although she didn’t run with the family business straight away, Sofia tried her hand at various things from fashion, painting, acting, TV hosting, photography before she found that her thing was screenwriting and filmmaking.
It’s worthwhile to be curious, to be so motivated to observe and learn different subjects and mediums. What that did for Sofia, as she studied people, listened to other’s stories and watched what they did and what they were interested in, it built a taste level to what later became the Sofia aesthetic.
If you think about it, it doesn’t take a whole lot to emulate her creative journey. She didn’t attend elite boarding schools just for the sake of her surname (she went to a public high school). The one true advantage Sofia Coppola has over millennials and Gen Z is that she discovered all the cool things before there was dial up. Her need for creativity didn’t have to rely on a WiFi password. That and she came up in the 90’s. You think you’re pretty cool right now with your TikTok followers, imagine being so cool during the 90’s when all women brought out with them was lipstick, wallet, keys.
BECOMING THE NEXT SOFIA
What you’re looking for will not be on Tumblr, Pinterest, are.na, Instagram, TikTok etc …
Look to the past. Read classic literature books. Watch films on Criterion. If there’s a really good library in your city with archives, research an era that you’re interested in. Ie: 60’s mod, the 80’s New York art scene, Italian Renaissance or even start with Circe. In other words, steer clear of mainstream for a little while. It’s okay to not know the current thing trending.
Listen to other music that you normally don’t, like jazz standards. Light a candle and sit still with some Chet Baker and you might feel something.
Learn about past cultures and what life was like during that time, how did people dress, what music did they listen to? I discovered the punk era same time I learned about Vivienne Westwood, when fashion and music collide and put a stamp on culture it’s worth being engrossed in the details.
Watch indie films and old foreign films. Start with Jean Luc Goddard, move on to Eric Rohmer, the stylistics of both filmmakers are still relevant to today’s fashion trends and even content creation aesthetics.
Go to smaller art gallery exhibits, pay close attention to the details in photography and follow photographers works. All this to say that even though Sofia was born with a famous last name, she took the road less traveled with her artistic interests. And at some point she met and made friends with people cooler than her, those with non-industry families who were just in a band that she liked. Her early friendships resulted into collaborations with The Beastie Boys and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth.
Work with good people that you admire. Looking at Sofia’s film catalog she tends to keep her circle close with her big brother working by her side (also a filmmaker), dad on the sidelines, an actor cousins here and there. Professionally she surrounds herself with people she trusts and feels safe with. I feel that because she’s always been more indie than mainstream, Sofia has a precise, clever eye for spotting talents as well as knowing her marketing aesthetic, which inevitably guides the art direction. The Sofia Coppola formula is fairly basic. She writes about what she knows, what she read about, historical heroines, people with interesting pasts. Then it’s off to the art department with probably a well thought out, verbalized imagery of a moodboard, which essentially is always soft mood lighting and album cover fonts. s
I’m very excited to know that there is a next Sofia Coppola within our midsts. Search and discover things that are to some out of the norm, you don’t have to follow the Hollywood box office format. And find your marketable look that speaks to you as a creative, that even with a studio financing, your name becomes synonymous with that style of work.
GIFT GUIDE FOR SOFIA COPPOLA STANS
*No doubt she already has the Sofia Coppola Archives
She’d rather stay in on Friday night to rewatch The Virgin Suicides (again), start a Sofia Coppola playlist on Spotify, and decorate her room with early aughts Marc Jacobs ads that she got on eBay.
Baby Generation by Sofia Coppola featuring Kim Gordon, Ione Skye, Tamra Davis - photo book circa 1996 Shibuya, Tokyo an exhibit produced by Sofia and Fumihiro Hayashi. Truly a hard find.
Kodak Portra 400 film rolls (it’s Sofia’s favorite, for the soft color quality)
Kodak Ektar H35 Frame film camera - the best inexpensive film camera to practice on when you’re not professionally serious about photography, but want to be into photography
NOW HIRING
NA-KD is hiring a Graphic Designer (Gothenburg, Sweden / Hybrid)
Glossier is hiring a Manager in Social Media Marketing (NYC)
Are you hiring?
5 GOOD THINGS
Alexa Chung interview where she earns her IT girl status (also loving her honey toned hair, something about the color, I can recognize some of her dad’s Chinese features)
Filmmakers! Anora x Kodak Short Film Contest - submission deadline is 10/31
Christopher John Rogers for J.Crew is so gooood.
The last quarter of the year is a strenuous race to the end of the year. So, DCG might start posting on Fridays. Maybe, we’ll see. This week just kicked my ass.
Special hello to the influx of new subscribers!!
Hug your homies,
DNAMAG
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