A poetic reinvention of Chanel couture where freedom, fantasy, and femininity float effortlessly into a new era!
A Fairytale Awakening at the Grand Palais
For his highly anticipated couture debut at Chanel, Matthieu Blazy found an unexpected antidote to pressure, legacy, and expectation — magic mushrooms.
Inside the Grand Palais, the maison replaced Paris’s winter-gray skies with an otherworldly vision of pale pink light and towering toadstools. Giant mushrooms dotted the runway, transforming the historic venue into a surreal woodland reverie. The atmosphere felt dreamlike yet deliberate — a conscious step away from grandeur and toward gentleness.
Ahead of the show, Blazy teased the collection through an animated short film depicting woodland animals industriously working inside the Chanel atelier, a modern Cinderella-style fantasy infused with couture whimsy.
“I wanted something light, poetic and easily understood,” Blazy shared during the preview.
“Making something light also allows me to dial down the drama.”
And lightness — emotional, visual, and philosophical — became the defining language of Chanel Spring 2026 Haute Couture.
Reimagining Chanel Without the Weight of Its Icons
Taking on one of fashion’s most formidable legacies, Blazy approached Chanel not through excess homage, but through restraint.
Rather than leaning heavily on recognizable house signatures, he gently stripped them away.
Tweed dissolved. Camellias vanished. Structure softened.
In doing so, Blazy quietly closed the chapter of Karl Lagerfeld’s maximal symbolism and instead sought the spirit of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel herself — the woman who revolutionized fashion by freeing women from corsets and constraint.
Coco Chanel’s enduring philosophy echoed throughout the collection:
“Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”
Blazy followed that advice almost to its limit — until there was barely anything separating the audience from the models’ whisper-light garments.
The Opening Look: Couture Reduced to a Whisper
The show opened with a moment of breathtaking delicacy.
A nude chiffon interpretation of the iconic Chanel tweed suit floated down the runway, its translucent layers barely held together by fine chains and pearls sewn into the hems. Worn by Stephanie Cavalli, the look came paired with a ghostlike quilted handbag — so light it seemed to evaporate mid-stride — spilling an embroidered handwritten note.
It was couture distilled to emotion rather than construction.
A beginning that felt not loud, but sincere.
Women in Motion: Freedom as the True Muse
At the heart of the collection was a singular idea:
movement.
“It was about this idea of women in motion — of freedom, and clothes that don’t constrain her,” Blazy explained.
The silhouettes responded accordingly — weightless, fluid, and responsive to the body rather than restrictive upon it. Wispy underwear-like layers replaced rigid foundations, creating garments that moved like breath against skin.
Blazy’s mood board was filled with images of birds, a metaphor that translated beautifully across the runway.
A Symphony of Feathers, Raffia, and Illusion
Chanel’s legendary Métiers d’Art ateliers were deployed with exquisite subtlety:
- Brightly hued plumage embroideries shimmered across diaphanous gowns
- Raven-black raffia coats mimicked avian textures
- Pigeon-gray petals glistened on barely-there skirt suits
- Raw threads formed the illusion of peacock feathers on flapper-style dresses
Each piece felt handcrafted yet ephemeral — couture not as armor, but as atmosphere.
Surreal Details and Modern Memories
Delicate touches elevated the collection into fantasy:
- Psychedelic embroideries echoed the mushroom-filled set
- A trompe-l’oeil tank top and jeans rendered in organza nodded subtly to Blazy’s work at Bottega Veneta
- A standout scarlet evening gown crowned with a fuzzy cocoon delivered perhaps the chicest interpretation of “mushroom couture” ever imagined
Among the color-washed dreamscape, Blazy punctuated the show with all-black silhouettes, grounding the fantasy in Chanel realism — most memorably Alex Consani’s modern little black dress, finished with trailing chiffon sleeves.
Couture as Choice, Not Uniform
One of the collection’s most refreshing departures lay in its philosophy of identity.
Rather than presenting a singular Chanel woman, Blazy offered a palette of selves.
Models were invited to choose personal symbols and messages to embroider into their garments — turning couture into autobiography rather than branding.
For a house historically associated with total looks, this gesture felt radical, intimate, and deeply human.
Casting With Joy at Its Core
Blazy’s casting continued to reflect his belief in authenticity and emotional connection.
Model Bhavitha Mandava, fresh from her viral appearance in his Métiers d’Art show in New York, radiated genuine joy as she circled the runway — even exiting with a spontaneous pirouette.
That joy spilled outward.
By the finale, the Grand Palais felt less like a fashion show and more like a shared celebration.
A Celebrity Front Row Turned Chorus
The energy reached its peak as the finale soundtrack — a euphoric mash-up of “Bittersweet Symphony” and “Wonderwall” — filled the room.
In the front row, Chanel ambassadors Dua Lipa, A$AP Rocky, and Margaret Qualley broke into lip-synced karaoke, turning couture tradition into a collective dopamine moment.
It was fashion as emotional relief — exactly what Blazy intended.
A Breath of Fresh Air for Couture
Reflecting on the moment, Blazy offered perhaps the clearest articulation of the collection’s purpose:
“I wouldn’t say it’s hard to design in general, but given what’s happening in the world, you do wonder what fashion can contribute. I wanted this to be a breath of fresh air.”
With Chanel Spring 2026 Haute Couture, Matthieu Blazy delivered precisely that — not spectacle for spectacle’s sake, but beauty as reassurance.
Gentle. Joyful. Human.
A couture debut that didn’t shout its arrival — it simply floated in, like spring itself.
Blazy’s debut marks a new chapter for Chanel — one rooted not in nostalgia or excess, but in lightness, movement, and emotion.
In a world craving softness, Chanel chose to dream.
