Heritage or Horizon: Matthieu Blazy’s Debut at Chanel and What’s Changed in Couture
By Jennifer Canal 12th October 2025 at 13:16 GMT
Image Credit: Business of Fashion
When Matthieu Blazy strode onto the Grand Palais runway in October 2025 as Chanel’s new artistic director, he did more than reveal a collection. He whispered a promise: that a house so steeped in history could still evolve, still surprise, still become new without losing its bones. His first Spring/Summer 2026 show wasn’t just about clothes—it was about identity, expectation, and who Chanel wants to be now.
Here’s what Blazy did, what it signals, and what every person who cares about style, meaning, and the energy of today might take from it.
I. A Balancing Act with Legacy
Blazy inherits a mighty legacy. Coco Chanel’s original codes, Karl Lagerfeld’s bold reimaginings, and Virginie Viard’s recent stewardship form the scaffolding of the brand. Blazy doesn’t dismantle this scaffolding; he reframes it.
•He doesn’t lean heavily into pastiche. Instead, he returns to foundational fabrics—tweed, jersey, silk—yet reworks them: lighter tweed, softer bouclé, rougher edges, raw hems.
•Chanel’s codes—camellia, pearls, 2.55 bag—are present, but slightly disordered, more playful. Bags are “crushed,” unclasped, used more like symbols than objects of rigid formality.
Blazy’s strategy is, in effect, a conversation: with Gabrielle Chanel, with Lagerfeld, with the couture archive. But he is positioning himself not as a restorer but as a translator—someone who hears the old language and renders it for new ears.
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II. Theatre, Emotion, and Stagecraft Return
Where recent Chanel shows under Viard (and in some ways under Lagerfeld’s latter years) sometimes leaned toward elegance tempered by restraint, Blazy reintroduces showmanship. The set: planets, a reflective runway, cosmic imagery. Dramatic. Immersive. Bold.
In a memorable moment, model Awar Odhiang broke from the formation—twirling, clapping, embracing Blazy in the finale—an unscripted outburst of joy. Moments like that do more than give applause; they give humanity. They suggest that fashion shows aren’t just spectacle; they are shared breath.
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III. The New Chanel Woman Blazy Sketches
Blazy seems to be imagining a woman (or a person) who lives in multiple rhythms: structure and ease, formality and nonchalance, tradition and informality. Some of the signs:
•Androgynous tailoring: pantsuits borrowing from menswear, loosened shapes, sleeves rolled, collars popped.
•Fluid skirts, sheer fabrics, frayed hems, wrap skirts—garments that move, breathe, shift. Less rigid couture, more wearability.
•Accessories that suggest displacement: 2.55 bags crushed, bags worn open, items that feel “lived-in.”
This Chanel woman is not always about formal events or red carpets. She’s about reality — movement, comfort, life outside the studio as much as inside. Someone who wants identity and individuality within luxury, not just ornament.
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IV. What It Means for Everyday People
What does this shift at Couture’s high table mean for you, walking out the door,—or looking to invest in wardrobe, in style, in impression? A lot.
1.Luxury becomes more relatable
If you’ve ever felt that haute couture is for cameras, not people, Blazy’s into softening that line. Clothes that move, that feel less costume and more self. That means getting pieces that can do double duty: event and everyday.
2.Heritage with breathing room
The idea that a storied brand can evolve is reassuring. It means your investment in a brand doesn’t freeze you in time. Chanel is showing that legacy doesn’t have to mean stasis—it can mean reinterpretation.
3.Style as conversation, not display
The unscripted moments—Odhiang’s joy, the undone edges, the collars popped—signal something about style culture: that it’s less about perfection and more about personality. That maybe what makes something beautiful is the small unruliness.
4.Fashion and ethics closer together
Handmade, breathable, softer garments suggest sustainable values: less rigid construction, more movement, more garments that last because they fit more flexibly. When fashion emphasizes longevity, craftsmanship, wear-over-seasons, that often means more thoughtful consumption.
5.Confidence in imperfection
In a social media age where everything is curated, polished, filtered—Blazy’s takes (bags crushed, hems frayed, stiffness loosened) invite the idea that imperfection doesn’t diminish value—it can enhance it, make it vivid.
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V. Possible Risks & What to Watch
No shift this big goes unchallenged. Some things to watch:
•Core customer resistance: There are longtime Chanel clients who want the classic more than the contemporary. Pieces that feel too playful or too broken might trouble them.
•Pricing vs perception: Relaxed tailoring and lived-in styles can feel less formal; customers may question whether they justify luxury price tags.
•Staying unique: Blazy borrows some forms popular elsewhere (masculine tailoring, deconstructed bags). The risk is that in chasing modernity, the designs lose distinctiveness.
•Balance of spectacle and wearability: The theatrical set is beautiful, but if the clothes don’t translate into real life—commutes, meetings, dinners—the collection could become admired rather than adopted.
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VI. Conclusion: A New Orbit for Chanel
Matthieu Blazy’s debut for Chanel is not a revolution screaming from the ramparts. It’s more subtle. It’s a recalibration. A promise that Chanel can still be majestic, but also human. That elegance can coexist with effortlessness. That heritage is not a treasure chest to be locked away, but a foundation to build forward from.
For lovers of beauty, style, and meaning, Blazy’s Chanel suggests something thrilling: that the future of fashion might not be about leaving the past behind, but carrying it in one hand and building something new in the other.
He opened the door onto a starry sky; for those watching, the view feels full of possibility.