At the Grand Palais, on October 6, 2025, the day before the last day of Paris Fashion Week, Matthieu Blazy presented his first Chanel show, Spring-Summer 2026. Cosmic scenography, softened tweeds, reinvented accessories: the house announces a new direction without denying the Gabrielle Chanel DNA. Welcomed with great applause, this launch aims to revive desirability after 2024, under the watchful eye of Bruno Pavlovsky and muses like Nicole Kidman and Ayo Edebiri. Virginie Viard, former Chanel director, is subtly referenced through the continuity of the codes.
Chanel Show: reinvented codes, tweed, suits, jewelry in orbit
At 41, Matthieu Blazy signs his first Chanel show on October 6, 2025. The Spring/Summer 2026 collection opens a new era that claims continuity as much as rupture. From the first silhouettes, the house’s vocabulary is rewritten: softened tweed, cropped pantsuits, fringed skirts, floral dresses whose petals seem cut with a scalpel. The chains lengthen and the camellias take on almost graphic stylized forms. Additionally, the metallic bags resemble satin meteorites. Furthermore, baroque chokers structure the look. The whole favors line and movement: clean falls, lowered waists, supple sleeves, bold but not stiff shoulders.
Faced with heritage, Blazy opts for discreet shifts rather than grand gestures: the classic suit is seen through the prism of an androgynous wardrobe with softened pants, cropped jacket, while the little jacket sometimes gives way to a masculine blazer with sharp edges. The tweed becomes more tactile, brushed, sometimes almost plush, while the floral prints move away from expected romanticism to lean into abstraction. The accessory, the beating heart of Chanel, is treated as a punctuation: "crushed" minaudières, crumpled leathers, rosary-like long necklaces, and fractaled camellias in light brooches. The message is clear: heritage, yes, but with momentum.
A galaxy narrative: the scenography that changes the scale
Under the nave of the Grand Palais, finally restored, the scenography transforms the show. Indeed, it immerses it in a cosmos of luminous planets. A mirror podium reflects the suspended stars and multiplies the silhouettes, turning the room into a celestial dome. The motif is not gratuitous: it speaks of a ‘universal chic’, concerned with openness and scale, claimed by Blazy. The effect on the crowd journalists, clients, celebrities is immediate: silence at the first look, then the final ovation. The staging evokes a house memory, that of the grand theatrical sets of the Karl Lagerfeld era, without pastiche. It thus leaves the image of a return to the spectacular after more muted seasons.
The visual narration supports the cut: feathers in clouds on evening skirts, sparkling knits capturing the halos of the planets. Moreover, the chains vibrate to the rhythm of the steps. Humor surfaces with demure wigs, offbeat details to remind that Chanel style can smile while maintaining its poise. In the nave, the sound is contained and the lights rub against the aluminum of the accessories. Thus, everything contributes to a precision that prevents the spectacular from becoming garish.
Ten looks that set the course
- Long pants with a lowered waist, loosely buttoned shirt, baroque choker: the look becomes fluid, the rigor comes from the cut.
- Fringed skirt in brushed tweed, cropped jacket and doubled chain: a classic set in motion.
- Floral dress cut into applied petals, oversized camellia at the waist.
- Androgynous pantsuit, "men’s" jacket with sharp edges, long necklace.
- Sparkling knit dress "deep sky", crumpled metallic bag carried by hand.
- Tweed coat with visible outer pockets, jewel collar like a soft armor.
- Day silhouette in neat dark denim, jeweled ballerinas and micro chain bag.
- Cocktail dress with feathers and silk, patent ankle boots, double-row choker.
- Elongated twin-set with raw edges, multiplied chain belt.
- Evening finale: voluminous feather skirt, minimal corseted top, hammered metal minaudière.
These ten moments summarize the Blazy method: lighten, shift, re-materialize. The garment takes precedence, the ornament follows.
People and image diplomacy: Kidman, Edebiri and the new grammar of muses
The front row spoke volumes about the strategy: Nicole Kidman has become the new ambassador of the house, a symbolic return more than twenty years after her film for N° 5. Her appearance in an impeccable white shirt, wide jeans, burgundy flap bag set the tone for a relaxed luxury that does not forgo style. Ayo Edebiri, a highly followed American actress, present in the front row, embodies a young guard whose controlled whimsy responds to the new silhouette. Beyond the souvenir photo, Chanel organizes an image diplomacy: a living heritage (Kidman) and a rising voice (Edebiri), to circulate between generations and cultural territories.
The guest list Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Anna Wintour, and other friends of the house testifies to the desire to gather rather than cut through the Chanel organizational chart. Like a choral film, the evening assembles key figures from yesterday and today to signify that the stylistic reset is not a breach of contract with the public, but a reformulation.
The storytelling of the show: heritage, modernity, measure
Blazy tells the story of Gabrielle Chanel without repeating her alphabet. Thus, the pants, the ease, the freedom of movement are reinjected into a visual project. Moreover, this historical core where measure is the first audacity is revealed with elegance. By renouncing easy excesses, the proposal becomes more legible: one sees the line, one reads the hand. The feather makers, embroiderers, tweed weavers are highlighted by the cut, not hidden under the effect.
The cosmic scenography pushes the idea: Chanel is defined not by a fixed nostalgia but by a universality this ‘universal chic’ claimed backstage. In a moment when fashion is reclaiming its grand halls, the Grand Palais becomes a sounding board. Indeed, it serves a house that assumes its role as a cultural spectacle as much as an industry.
Business decryption: why this shift matters
On the financial side, Chanel is emerging from a 2024 slowdown revenues $18.7 billion (− 4.3%), operating result − 30% — accompanied by record investments ($1.755 billion in capex, + 43%) according to the 2024 results published by Chanel. This long-term strategy aims to capture destination commerce and consolidate the boutique experience. Furthermore, it supports the creative ecosystem, which explains part of the pressure on profitability. In this context, Blazy’s appointment responds to a dual necessity: reignite desirability among historical clients and conquer younger audiences, without succumbing to the noise of trends.
For Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Fashion activities, the challenge is clear: continuity of know-how and new energy. The choice of a Chanel stylist, accustomed to materials and volumes rather than untimely logospeak, can create, in the medium term, a differentiation in a market saturated with images. The return to the Grand Palais, where Chanel is a major patron, also sends a signal of cultural power: the brand invests in places and narratives that exceed the commercial sphere and anchor its legitimacy.
Finally, the already high price positioning calls for a perceived value to match. By showing couture gestures on ready-to-wear, by reinventing hardware, by caring for bags (the most observed category), Blazy provides visible justifications for aspiration and pricing. While the response from key markets (mainland China, United States) remains to be seen, the critical reception is encouraging. Moreover, the public reaction suggests hope for a quick image rebound, a prerequisite for any commercial recovery.
And now?
The Spring/Summer 2026 season establishes a platform: lightened silhouettes, rethought accessories, meaningful scenography. The next steps cruise, Métiers d’art, haute couture will tell if the proposal unfolds in depth. But the ‘act I’ has set its coordinates: assumed heritage, measured audacity, universal as a horizon. At Chanel, the reset does not erase: it re-inscribes.