Introducing the New Era of Chanel

It’s been a month full of inventive director debuts—Valentino, Bottega Veneta and Gucci, to call just some—however none has been as extremely anticipated as Matthieu Blazy’s for the House of Chanel. And it’s protected to say vogue followers throughout the globe have given a collective spherical of applause for this new period of the luxurious French maison, whether or not seated entrance row or tuning in through livestream. New baggage, daring prints and deeply ingrained House codes have all been reimagined by means of a contemporary lens.

As the unofficial closing present of Paris Fashion Week—with arguably the largest superstar turnout—expectations had been sky-high. Margot Robbie, Kendall Jenner, Penélope Cruz, Naomi Campbell and Jennie had been just some of the stars becoming a member of new House ambassadors Ayo Edebiri and Nicole Kidman on the entrance row.

Add to that the weight of Blazy being solely the fourth inventive director in Chanel’s historical past—following Virginie Viard, who spent over 30 years at the model studying underneath Karl Lagerfeld—and it’s clear the stakes had been excessive. Coming from Bottega Veneta (the place new inventive director Louise Trotter impressed earlier this week), Blazy was introduced in for his sharp eye for equipment and his fashionable, architectural strategy to design.

So it’s with nice pleasure that, amongst his 77 appears (to be actual), not one however a number of new Blazy-designed baggage made their debut on the Chanel Spring/Summer 26 catwalk. Beyond offering a very stylish equipment line-up to reach in shops subsequent season, in addition they mark a shift in course for Chanel—one the place polished may look lived-in.

Speaking of the significance of this delicate styling shift, our Fashion Director Lily Russo-Bah says, “the most significant piece in this collection was the 2.55 bag in Look 5. It was softer, left open, worn—as if Matthieu Blazy were delivering a message to the world: this was the antithesis of the box-fresh 2.55s we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on our social media feeds over the past decade. Chanel bags are meant to be used. Exactly as Gabrielle Chanel intended”.

It’s this concept of what Gabrielle Chanel would have wished that runs by means of the whole assortment. “This is a universe, the Universe of Chanel. Within it, outside the usual constraints of space and time, conversation unfolds in three parts. This is between Chanel’s new Artistic Director of Fashion Activities, Matthieu Blazy, and the founder, Gabrielle Chanel,” reads the present notes.

The three elements in query? Un Paradoxe—historically menswear-inspired shirts and trousers reimagined with Chanel’s innate femininity. Le Jour—traditional Chanel daywear considered by means of a up to date lens, with hand-painted prints, knitted silks and frayed tweed. And lastly, L’Universel—the place the House’s most iconic codes step confidently into the future.

As the present notes spotlight, “grids of tweed become hand-knotted knits and transparencies, the architecture of the Chanel suit laid bare; jewellery, so intrinsic to Chanel, is loaded and treasured, both real and ephemeral, with baroque pearls, glass planets and enamelled chains; footwear is found with a familiar contrasting toe-cap, with heels all perfectly realisable, to propel the wearer forward, securely into the future”.

When it involves footwear particularly, it’s the traditional contrasting toe-cap and a brand new thong-like pump which might be already shaping as much as be subsequent season’s It sneakers.