Charlotte Cardin had planned on spending the first half of 2025 writing music but instead she's been busy doing promo – her song Feel Good unexpectedly started getting a lot of play on French radio in January, even though it was released nearly two years ago. In our age of streaming, time is timeless, everything’s parallel and can boomerang back – especially with a chorus that big.

The Canadian musician, with an armful of awards in her homeland, as well as a couple of albums under her belt, made a return to modelling walking for Miu Miu SS25 and AW24, where she also starred in the campaign. From Kristin Scott Thomas to Ethel Cain, Little Simz to Willem Dafoe and Hilary Swank this has been some casting, arrestingly complex and assured in its dignity.

Cardin lives in Paris and enjoys early morning walks through the city as it is slowly waking up. She describes this as “sacred, like everything is to be discovered.” You get the appeal. 

Do you have a notebook for your lyrics, Charlotte? What motivates you to write in it?

I have a few different notebooks, but I mostly write lyrics on my phone, which isn't the most romantic image. It’s convenient, since I usually come up with melodies and lyrics at the same time.

Is there a lyric you’re most pleased with?

Oh, that's a good question. It changes because I rediscover my own songs where I'm having a nice time performing them, or going through something in my life that brings me back to something I've experienced before. I put out a song last year called I Came Here to Leave You, which is about a decision I made in my heart and then a moment that made me completely change my mind. It’s not one lyric but the whole song is something I’m very happy about. 

Have you heard your music being played somewhere you weren't expecting it?

Recently, I had a friend who was traveling in Japan who heard one of my songs, Jim Carrey, like five times in different cafes. I've never performed in Asia, but I would absolutely love to.

One story that made me realise the extent music can easily be shared is from a few years ago, when I played my first show in Istanbul. I knew I had some fans in Türkiye because I would be getting messages on Instagram, but I was expecting to play a venue like a pub. When I showed up I learnt that 4,000 people were coming. It was such a beautiful moment to be welcomed in a warm way and know that my music had travelled to a place I hadn’t visited yet.

How was singing with your boyfriend, the actor and musician Aliocha Schneider, on his song Ensemble?

We've been together for eight years, and we've always loved singing together. That's how we met. We started making music like 12 years ago – we were friends for a while before we started dating. But we’d never fully written a song together because songwriting is very vulnerable and, especially when you collaborate, you say no to a lot of ideas. Both being touring artists we've spent a lot of time apart. We were long distance for like six years, a lot of missing each other, so a lot of our songs that we've written independently are about distance and feeling super disconnected, trying to figure out what it means to be in a relationship when you’re not physically together most of the time. When Alio wrote his song Ensemble, it was about our story. Not only did I love the song musically, it touched me as a whole. On the original you hear me as a texture as I’d sang background vocals, but when he did the re-edition of his album he asked me to write and sing on a new version as a feature. I'm really proud of that duet. It’s extra meaningful for us.

You have an enduring relationship with Chanel and have been attending the shows for years. So you understand the house like a fashion editor, with a knowledge of the collections. What is your favourite Chanel memory?

The first time I saw a Chanel show, it was in Hamburg [Métiers d'Art Paris-Hamburg 2017/18]. It was Chanel, it was Karl [Lagerfeld], and it was at the Hamburg Philharmonic with an orchestra playing – all of my favourite things combined. The music was breathtaking and the collection was very sailor/fishermen inspired, obviously connected to the port. The models and the acoustics were beautiful. It was everything I had dreamed about a fashion show.

I’ve met Theophilus London at a Chanel event – you always mix with a lot of very interesting people. The last show I went to the amazing actress Rebecca Marder was sat next to me. It was a beautiful encounter, very nice to talk with her. 

CHARLOTTE CARDIN
TEXT DEAN MAYO DAVIES
PHOTOGRAPHY ALESSIO BOLZONI
FASHION MAURICIO NARDI
RE-EDITION #23, SPRING/SUMMER 2025
COVER STORY