Pleated dress by FENDI, worn with BIBI VAN DER VELDEN earrings. Photographed by Anthony Arquier for the February 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines
Set at the Domaine du Château Vert estate, Alexandre Dornellas crafts an sensory journey guided by intuition rather than narrative, drawing on the stillness of Asian cinema.
“This editorial started from an intuitive place rather than a fixed narrative,” says creative director and stylist Alexandre Dornellas. “I wanted to explore a romantic yet dramatic mood,” he adds, drawing influence from “the emotional tone of Asian cinema, especially the way light, color, and stillness shape the atmosphere” by directors such as Wong Kar-wai, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, or Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
At Domaine du Château Vert in northern Paris, a 40-hectare estate commissioned in 1826 by a wealthy diplomat who transformed the land into a jungle with various experimental greenhouses, the story was set. The landscape, chosen for its tranquility and cinematic quality, frames the model in moments of intense stillness.
The styling follows the same instinctive logic. “I built the looks through feeling and contrast,” Dornellas explains, assembling a wardrobe that moves between established maisons, emerging Paris-based designers, and a Chinese label such as Susan Fang. “It felt important to create a dialogue between different creative voices rather than tell a literal story,” he says, an approach that mirrors Asian cinema’s tendency to privilege mood, texture, and emotional resonance over linear narrative.
Ultimately, the editorial resists narrative in favor of mood, “balancing romance and drama through light, color, and styling,” says Dornellas. What remains is a visual poem shaped by atmosphere, where clothing, landscape, and emotion converge, and feeling, much like in the mental bricolage of films that inspired it, becomes the only storyline.
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Leather-trimmed trench coat, wide-leg trousers, and shoes by ERWAN L’HERON, worn with SUSAN FANG earrings. Photographed by Anthony Arquier for the February 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines1/5 -
Suede jacket and skirt by PRADA. Photographed by Anthony Arquier for the February 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines.2/5 -
Brocade dress, V-neck sweater, and boots by LOUIS VUITTON, worn with a necklace by SUSAN FANG. Photographed by Anthony Arquier for the February 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines3/5 -
Fringed dress by ERWAN L’HERON. Photographed by Anthony Arquier for the February 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines4/5 -
Knitted dress and black lace-up boots by DIOR. Photographed by Anthony Arquier for the February 2026 Issue of Vogue Philippines5/5
Photographs by ANTHONY ARQUIER. Creative Direction and Styling by ALEXANDRE DORNELLAS. Makeup: Sharbel Hasbany. Hair: Sundia Wen. Nails: Ines Okaci. Executive Production: Aurea. Fashion Production: Kaio Berguer. Fashion Assistant: Ana Camiza. Light Assistant: Théo Tisserandet. Model: Xiaorui Li. Casting: Melissa Scott.
Special thanks to Domaine du Château Vert.
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