Matthieu Blazy has cemented his dream start at Chanel with his haute couture debut, his third collection for the storied house. The 41-year-old Belgian designer, little-known outside fashion circles before his appointment last year, delivered a show that earned a standing ovation from a front row including Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman, and Dua Lipa. Backstage, long-serving Chanel staff were seen high-fiving, a rare display of joy in an industry that prizes coolness.
The show took place in the Grand Palais, transformed into a fairytale willow wood with sugar-pink trees and giant mushrooms. Guests shed sable coats to pose for grinning selfies, and the approval for the new direction was palpable. The collection opened with a boxy suit in tissue-thin mousseline rather than tweed, allowing the weight chain at the hem to glitter and dance in the breeze.
Highlights included a slip dress with gemstone spaghetti straps under a transparent jacket, a birdcage earring enclosing a tiny pearl, and a little black dress with a racer back framed by crimson feathers. The clothes were chic and the craftsmanship exceptional, but Blazy’s warmth towards the women who wear them set the show apart. He cast models of diverse ages, saying mature women bring a different dimension to his clothes: ‘They are not just beautiful; they have lived, they are anchored, they have seen the world.’
Blazy wanted the show to be light and joyful, an ‘adventure’ in a harsh world. He asked each model to choose something personal to be woven into their outfit, such as initials, birthdates, love letters, or poetry. Lesage, the Parisian embroiderers, stitched these messages inside garments or on fabric notes tucked into handbag pockets. The designer declined to reveal most details, noting they were intimate, but shared that one model chose the word ‘kindness’.
The teaser trailer with animated Snow White bluebirds had raised eyebrows, but Blazy’s grown-up magic trick prevailed. His signature trompe l’œil effects continued, with denim jeans revealed as painted mousseline and a raven-inspired dress of leather feathers. So far, the new Chanel is in a fairytale era.
