The working wardrobe: Coco Baudelle
From law student to beauty-campaign star and, now, model and filmmaker, COCO BAUDELLE has many strings to her bow, thanks to her singular creative vision. Here, she shares her career and style secrets with MEGAN LOGUE
The day Coco Baudelle graduated from law school was a pivotal one – though not in the way you might expect. The model, actor and filmmaker explains: “I remember watching everyone’s hats fly into the air, and they were all crying tears of joy. In that moment, I felt really proud, but I wasn’t happy – I felt nothing.” That elucidating experience inspired her to make some major changes: “I needed to bring myself back to life.” Surprising as it may sound, the remedy for Baudelle’s malaise turned out to be regular 11-hour bus journeys from her home town of Montreal to New York City. She soon became enmeshed in a different world, befriending artists and creatives working across a range of disciplines: “The world started opening up again.”
It was after securing her first modeling gig, as the face of Glossier’s inaugural campaign, that Baudelle decided to make New York her home. “I saw an opportunity to survive here. I came down for that shoot and never left.” However, judging by the success of Night Bloom, the short film she made during lockdown last year, it would appear that her future might be behind the camera as opposed to in front of it. “Being someone’s subject is a really humbling experience – especially for someone like me, whose physical beauty is somewhat unconventional – but when I’m behind the camera, I feel completely free, like I can create a world that’s my own.” In six magical and otherworldly minutes, Night Bloom presents the viewer with the minutiae and mundanities of a day in quarantine but, reframed through Baudelle’s delicate lens, they become something utterly enchanting. The critics are clearly in agreement: the film was selected for the illustrious Venice Shorts, was a semi-finalist at the Dumbo Film Festival and also won Best Short Film at the Sicily Independent Film Awards.
It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that Baudelle is on the brink of another career milestone, creating her first feature film. In fact, she was on the cusp of heading to Los Angeles to begin production in March 2020 when the pandemic ground the industry to a halt. Far from lamenting the delay, however, she believes the movie, which she has written and will also be directing, could have even more resonance in light of the events of the past year. “I feel like, now, the world is a much more open and understanding place.” For the time being, Baudelle is keeping her cards close to her chest, but she does disclose that she’ll be working with industry titans she’s admired for years – and she’s already in talks about yet another project. An especially impressive feat for an autodidact. Read on to discover the future auteur’s career and style secrets…
LOOK FOR BEAUTY EVERYWHERE
“Night Bloom began as an experiment. I made it in four days during June 2020. I felt numb and paralyzed, with no idea where my career was headed, or whether that work even mattered in the grand scheme of things. I was trying to see if there was beauty in the midst of all that – and capture it. I was upstate in Woodstock and just started filming the rain, the flowers and everything around me. In the meantime, I was also sending emails to artists that inspire me, telling them what their work meant to me. I couldn’t believe it when they actually started responding. I think everyone was really craving connection. Night Bloom came together really quickly, but the first time I watched it through, I just felt total solace. I was really nervous about sharing it, but the response was incredible. It was so validating to see that I could use film to convey how I was feeling and the beauty I saw around me.”
“There is definitely an element of fantasy to the way I dress; I’m drawn to beautiful pieces that are evocative of a different world or have a story to them
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EMBRACE AMBIGUITY
“People never really know what my background is in terms of where I was born or my ethnicity – it’s something I get asked about a lot and it always sparks a really interesting conversation. I love experimenting with my hair but, a few years ago, when I dyed it blonde, those questions just stopped. It was so strange to have that aspect of myself removed – I didn’t feel like me. It inspired me to go back to brunette and for a big chop. Now that my hair is a bit longer I’ve been using rollers a lot – they’re great for your hair health as they don’t use heat. I also love Oribe’s Supershine Moisturizing Cream – I go through so many tubes. My new beauty obsession is lip liner – Charlotte Tilbury does the best pencils; the Pillow Talk shade makes my lips look so healthy, and Iconic Nude is like a gentle shadow that leaves them looking soft and plump.”
“I have a lot of unofficial mentors, and filmmaker Crystal Moselle is one who has been particularly instrumental to me. She’s opened so many doors for me; I just hope I can do the same for someone else one day
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TELL A STORY WITH YOUR STYLE
“There is definitely an element of fantasy to the way I dress; I’m drawn to beautiful pieces that are evocative of a different world or have a story to them. I love investing in new pieces on my travels and I always seem to gravitate towards dresses – I’m a big dress girl. I have this beautiful Alaïa dress that came with matching bloomers – it’s such a special piece. When I’m feeling bright and happy, I’ll wear it somewhere as low-key as my neighborhood coffee shop. It just moves so beautifully; it makes me feel like I’m a ballet dancer on stage. It’s perfectly cut for a woman’s body.”
PERSERVANCE IS KEY
“Emily Weiss [the founder of Glossier] had this alternative vision of beauty and saw it in me. It was after fronting the brand’s first campaign that I decided to pursue modeling seriously. I was trying to get signed and going to agencies but, even though I was a part of this alternative-beauty movement, modeling agencies and really influential gatekeepers were telling me I couldn’t be a model because I didn’t fit neatly into any category. Recently, a really big campaign I did finally went live – it represented such a huge milestone for me. My modeling journey has been an interesting one. I’ve hit a lot of closed doors along the way, more than I can count, so to see this project come to life was truly amazing. I hope it inspires other people who see themselves in me.”
“When I’m feeling down or uninspired, I love wearing big, oversized suits. They make me walk and carry myself with more conviction
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CREATE CONNECTIONS
“I have a lot of unofficial mentors, and filmmaker Crystal Moselle is one who has been particularly instrumental to me. I spotted her on the street in SoHo a few years ago – she has this amazing, beautiful, long blonde hair that makes her unmistakable – and I ran up to her and told her I had just seen [her documentary film] The Wolfpack, and how much I loved her work. I mentioned that I was writing something and told her a little about it and she gave me her email address and told me to send it to her when I was finished. She really encouraged me to keep pressing on with it because it was clear I was so passionate about this story. I’ll never forget how genuine she was. When I finally finished the script, she was the first person I shared it with, and she passed it along to other people who have helped along the way. She’s opened so many doors for me; I just hope I can do the same for someone else one day.”
HARNESS THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF FASHION
“Different outfits can change how you experience the world and how it responds to you. I definitely dress based on what I have in store that day, but I always check in on how I feel and then tailor my look accordingly. When I’m feeling down or uninspired, I love wearing big, oversized suits. They make me walk and carry myself with more conviction – I even feel like my ideas get bolder when I wear one. There’s one outfit I’ve been wearing non-stop recently; it was born in 2020 – just a gray sweatshirt, dress pants and Oxford shoes. It attracts so little attention but in the loveliest way. I can walk around the city and just observe people and their mannerisms, small things that really serve my writing. New York has been really fascinating to experience throughout 2020 and 2021. At times, the city was so empty that it felt like a huge movie set.”