It’s been a month full of creative director debuts—Valentino, Bottega Veneta and Gucci, to name just a few—but none has been as highly anticipated as Matthieu Blazy’s for the House of Chanel. And it’s safe to say fashion fans across the globe have given a collective round of applause for this new era of the luxury French maison, whether seated front row or tuning in via livestream. New bags, bold prints and deeply ingrained House codes have all been reimagined through a fresh lens.
As the unofficial closing show of Paris Fashion Week—with arguably the biggest celebrity turnout—expectations were sky-high. Margot Robbie, Kendall Jenner, Penélope Cruz, Naomi Campbell and Jennie were just a few of the stars joining new House ambassadors Ayo Edebiri and Nicole Kidman on the front row.
Chanel Spring/Summer 26 finale
Add to that the weight of Blazy being only the fourth creative director in Chanel’s history—following Virginie Viard, who spent over 30 years at the brand learning under Karl Lagerfeld—and it’s clear the stakes were high. Coming from Bottega Veneta (where new creative director Louise Trotter impressed earlier this week), Blazy was brought in for his sharp eye for accessories and his modern, architectural approach to design.
So it’s with great excitement that, among his 77 looks (to be exact), not one but several new Blazy-designed bags made their debut on the Chanel Spring/Summer 26 catwalk. Beyond providing a particularly chic accessories line-up to arrive in stores next season, they also mark a shift in direction for Chanel—one where polished can also look lived-in.
Chanel Spring/Summer 26 runway look 5
Speaking of the importance of this subtle 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 idea of what Gabrielle Chanel would have wanted that runs through the entire collection. “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 show notes.
The three parts in question? Un Paradoxe—traditionally menswear-inspired shirts and trousers reimagined with Chanel’s innate femininity. Le Jour—classic Chanel daywear viewed through a contemporary lens, with hand-painted prints, knitted silks and frayed tweed. And finally, L’Universel—where the House’s most iconic codes step confidently into the future.
As the show notes highlight, “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”.
Chanel Spring/Summer 26 final look
When it comes to footwear in particular, it’s the classic contrasting toe-cap and a new thong-like pump that are already shaping up to be next season’s It shoes.
But if there’s one lasting takeaway, it’s Blazy’s message from the show notes: “above all, there is an idea of freedom, of a new universal dress and a borderless blending of styles; the inheritance of not just one Chanel woman, but rather, of Chanel women”.
