PARIS (AP) – Showmanship returned to Chanel on Monday.
in Paris Fashion Weekits new designer Matthieu Blazy opened the most predicted debut under the most predicted giant celestial bodies of the season. Saturn, its ring, the arrival of a bright runway of the complete solar system and mirrors suspended above Jet Black – from the first seconds to make the theatre claim.
The reflection reflected the universe beneath the runway, but the front row constellations (Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton, and Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos) were joined by the zodiac signs.
By the end of the night, the room had risen with standing ovations. As Doyenne Anna Wintour of Vogue said, “Fashion needs a showman.”
Chanel had it again.
Heritage house
Founded in 1910, Chanel reconstructed women’s wardrobes by simply replacing corset silhouettes – jerseys, trousers – codified the global ideas of Parisian chic through small black dresses, pearls and tweed suits. Under Karl Lagerfeld in the 1980s, it became a model for how heritage homes became historic and relentless modern. That legacy made Blazy’s debut over the designer’s transformation, but tests the billion-dollar, century-old institutions talking to the world.
The show densely packed the season with its debut: Pier Paolo Piccioli of Balenciaga, Louise Trotter of Bottega Veneta, Jack McCollo of Loueu, Lazarus Hernandez and Dario Vitale of Versace.
But Chanel’s moment felt singular due to its interests and scale. Dial down glitter, dial up lines, restore the theatre, keeping the code in a comfortable, hollow, blatant position, Chanel, not as a symbolic museum, but as a platform.
Androginy’s opening statement
The opener acted as a manifesto. This hermosquito leaning pantsuit features an asymmetrical jacket with low pants and structured shoulders. The look is divided from a calm designer playbook, Virgy Veid Last year I broke up with Chanel.. They also shifted from the second half of the period Karl Lagerfeld – Gabriel “Coco” takes one step closer to Chanel.
The style was not a reinvention of tweed, but was rethinked through the story of the founder’s origins when Coco wore the outfit of his lover, “boy” Capel.
The hand held in the pocket made the point explicit. The Chanel of Freedom was once placed in the hands of a woman – giving pants and pockets – has been fixed. The Spring 2026 collection was read in a few months as an imaginary conversation between Blazy and Chanel himself.
Code, Humor, Lagerfeldren’s
The ribbon – rumoured to be a point of attachment between the designer and the atelier – was almost gone. Sparkle was sparse and a calculated risk in the market that praised High Shine.
Instead, there was a silhouette first solution and feather mass, and the camellia was retained as a stable leit motif. The code remained easy to read, even if there were lines. Each one definitely looks Chanel. The tweed arrived interconnected rather than narrow Parisienne. If not interplanetary, it arrived multicultural, palette and weaving, intercontinental.
Then came the fun wig – what one critic called the “funny little hat” – with feathers, intentionally light in sly. They led Lagerfeld’s provocations on how he revitalized the home of his once surprised heritage when he joined Helm in 1983.
“Chanel is an institution, you have to treat the institution like (a prostitute) and you have to get something from her,” he said.
Chanel at Vialdo was often negligent due to drinking and restraint. Like Lagerfeld, Blazy is ironic. In Bottega Veneta, he performed frogs in heels, bunny lapel coats and tron leather jeans. Here, feathers, proportions and wigs delivered the wink without leading to theatrical costumes.
Accessories set new tempos, including large hats, metallic bags, layers of pearls, thick gold chains, and statement earrings. The handbag – another reason why Blasey was chosen – spans a playful clutch with a crisp chain strap update, including a prominent egg-shaped egg-shaped one.
The finale was debated during the discussion. A silky short sleeve shirt paired with a multi-colored feathered skirt with a long train. The colour moved across the feathers, and the black floor threw back reflections.
“That was a surprise… It’s exciting to be here in a new era,” film director Sofia Coppola told The Associated Press. “There’s something we recognize from the house code, and we’re seeing that again.”
