Happy & Carefree

Margaret Qualley opened this season’s Chanel Haute-Couture show to riotous acclaim. She is Hollywood’s darling of the moment. And, last summer, her wedding to super-producer Jack Antonoff was the party of 2023. It’s no wonder the actor is smiling. Lena De Casparis meets a free spirit and talks great loves and the art of not giving a f*ck.

IT WAS IN THE SUMMER OF 2021, DURING A FITTING FOR THE CHANEL haute couture show, that actor Margaret Qualley realised she would likely marry the music producer Jack Antonoff. ‘I’d met Jack probably two weeks before, but I was head-over-heels in love right away. I had a sure, knowing feeling that he was my husband,’ Qualley says, beaming. Recalling the moment creative director Virginie Viard pinned her into the show’s finale look: a high-neck, longsleeved, ivory wedding gown, worn with a polka-dot veil and pillbox hat, she says, ‘I was talking about Jack and said to her, “I think I’ve just met a man I’m going to marry. And, Virginie, if I’m right, will you make me my wedding dress?” I said, “Give me two years…”’

Reader, two years later, the bride wore Chanel: an ankle-length silk slip that moved with as much vivacity as its wearer’s new chinlength bob. Many called it the wedding of 2023. Taylor Swift was there. As were Zoë Kravitz and Lana Del Rey. In fact, the road outside the Long Beach Island venue was shut down due to the mass of fans trying to get a glimpse of the newlyweds and their A-list guests. ‘I think the power of manifesting is real,’ Qualley says, laughing. ‘We wanted it to be a big party with everybody we love.’

‘I’ve always wanted to be married,’ she continues. ‘I was that girly girl who would be on a walk with my sister fantasising about our weddings, or what our husbands would be like. But I don’t think I would have had as much of a big wedding if it weren’t for Jack. I wanted it to be big with him. It was, kind of, Jack needs a big wedding. And it seemed like it’d be more fun. He’s got so many great friends and a huge family, too. I think [weddings] are almost as much for your family and your friends as it is for you. It was sweet and special and just the most magical day of my life.’

For all the editorial columns and Page Six coverage of the nuptials, it was Qualley’s Chanel Mary Jane shoes that almost stole the show. And so, for this ELLE shoot, we asked if she m