Matthieu Blazy’s debut at Chanel was one of the most anticipated appointments of the season. With a reputation for meticulous craft, sharp tailoring, and intellectually charged design, he arrived with expectations stacked as high as Place Vendôme itself. What unfolded on the runway was not only a successful debut, but a remarkably self-assured rewriting of the Chanel language—faithful to the house’s heritage, yet absolutely grounded in the energy of now.
One of Blazy’s greatest strengths as a designer is his ability to make technical rigor feel effortless. It’s a talent rooted in how he cuts, sews, layers, and reshapes garments until they feel inevitable—a quality that defined this first collection. His starting point was not the overt symbols of Chanel, but the woman behind it: Gabrielle, the rule-breaker, the adopter of menswear, and the woman who stole silhouettes from her lover’s wardrobe. Instead of recreating that history, Blazy absorbed it and transformed it.
The most striking example came in the cropped suits that opened the show, their proportions taut and mischievous. These jackets—sharp at the shoulders, sliced at the waist—had the precision and posture of men’s tailoring, reshaped for a woman who moves fast and refuses to sit still. Dress shirts later in the lineup carried that masculine-to-feminine shift as well, crisp and boxy, yet softened with details only Chanel would think to hide in plain sight. Blazy even gave traditional shirting its own couture-like architecture, adding weight and structure where you might least expect it, creating that signature Chanel swing without the expected bouclé.
The classics were not ignored—they were recharged. Pearl embroidery appeared not as delicate trim, but as confident punctuation. Camellia motifs stretched with graphic boldness across knitwear. The iconic chain, so associated with handbag straps and jacket hems, became a structural device, shaping silhouettes and creating new kinds of movement. It felt like Chanel, unmistakably, but the volume was turned to a frequency we haven’t heard before.
Then came the most talked-about gesture of the night: the visible underwear. High-cut underpants peeked above waistbands, flashing just enough to feel youthful, irreverent, and a little cocky. It wasn’t shock for shock’s sake—it was a wink to modernity, to self-possession, to a woman wearing her confidence on her own terms. In a house known for poise and polish, the choice brought an unexpected electricity, as if Blazy was reminding the world that elegance can smirk, too.
The collection unfolded with momentum—sharp tailoring softened by chiffon, airy skirts paired with structured knits, and eveningwear made sleek instead of grandiose. Nothing felt heavy, nostalgic, or museum-like. Instead, Chanel moved. It breathed. It felt alive.
As debuts go, this was triumphal not because it was loud, but because it was sure of itself. Blazy didn’t chase reinvention for reinvention’s sake. He respected Chanel’s codes, handled them with precision, and then pushed them forward. It’s rare to see a designer enter a storied house and speak its language fluently on day one. Yet here, the fluency was unmistakable.
Chanel has entered a new era—youthful, technical, impeccably made, and quietly daring. And if this first outing signals the future under Matthieu Blazy, the house is in exceptional hands. Chanel.
