Appearing in a film about the founder of Chanel made by the fashion house itself might be daunting for some, but given she's the label's muse, Kristen Stewart probably has this one down.

The actress stars in a short film conceived and directed by Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld, which was filmed in Paris over two days last month, according to website WWD, and will be shown in December at the Chanel Metiers d'Art show in Rome.

However Stewart, 25, isn't playing founder Coco Chanel exactly - she plays an actress playing the designer “as a young woman” in the behind-the-scenes style project.

According to Lagerfeld, 81, Stewart executed a “really, really mean” turn on screen: “You only see her in tests and she's complaining about everything [...] She's mean with the director; mean with the producer.”

The actress has a long relationship with Chanel, appearing in campaigns and an offbeat catwalk show in July, and recently told Nylon while she enjoys fashion, she often customises designs so they don't feel like a “costume”.

“I really like tapping into unexplored aspects of myself; obviously, that’s what I do,” she said of her style. “Clothes can seriously do that, but you don’t want your clothes to wear you. So often I’m like, ‘Oh man, that is going to own my ass’ [...]

“[Lagerfeld] lets me chop dresses, he lets me steal a belt from that dress and wrap it around another [...] I’m really into the performance aspect of it, but I still have to make it my own. I don’t want to feel like I’m wearing a costume.”

Words: Amy Swales / Images: Rex Features