American musician Pharrell Williams will appear in a new Chanel campaign as Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. British supermodel Cara Delevingne appears as his wife Elisabeth, known the world over as Sisi.

The seven-minute advert was devised by Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld ahead of the luxury fashion house unveiling its 2014 Métiers d’art collection in Salzburg next week.

The advert is called Reincarnation, and features an original track composed by Pharrell called ‘CC the World’.

Reincarnation re-enacts a visit paid by Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel to an Austrian resort in 1954, where the designer was inspired by the outfit worn by the hotel’s lift operator. His uniform would become the inspiration for the famous Chanel jacket.

Lagerfeld, Williams and Chaplin [Image: Karl Lagerfeld]

Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of the legendary silent-movie star Charlie, plays Coco Chanel, while Pharrell was cast as the lift operator. The musician is then reincarnated as Franz Joseph I in an extended dream sequence.

Speaking to Parisian magazine WWD, Lagerfeld said of the advert: “It’s not meant to be a historical reconstruction or something heavy like that. This is light and funny.”

The eccentric fashion designer added that he had sent Pharrell “all kinds of Viennese music” to get the Happy singer in the mood to play one of Austria’s most celebrated royals.

Luc Besson, director of Lucy and The Fifth Element, lent his Paris studios to the project, and more than 60 extras appear in the piece.

Reincarnation will be officially released on December 1^st, but you can see the teaser trailer below: