Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel Debut – Review of the Spring/Summer 2026 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Matthieu Blazys Debut at Chanel Spring Summer 2026 Ready to Wear Runway Review

It was the show for which the fashion world has been waiting for months – Matthieu Blazy’s debut at Chanel. Before this Spring/Summer 2026 pret-à-porter show, I was begging the fashion gods for mercy – please give us something good. Since the passing of Karl Lagerfeld in 2019, Chanel went through turbulence – firstly, the polarizing Virginie Viard collections, then her sudden exit of the brand which left many fashionphiles with question marks. Since then, a team of designers had taken over and presented collection which were not bad, but most have probably forgotten about them already. At the beginning of this year, Chanel broke the news of having appointed a new creative director: Matthieu Blazy, the then-creative director of the Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta. (Check out my video about the expectations for Blazy at Chanel.) There was no rush, his first collection came almost nine months after his appointment. I saw this as a positive – Chanel gave him time to get to know the brand. The expectations, needless to say, were high. Did the fashion gods have mercy with us?

You can also watch my video here:

Judging from the first five looks, my first thought was that they did not. It was nothing particularly bad, but the looks were underwhelming, I did not really see the link to Chanel. However, slowly the show got better.

Look 12 – interesting cut and structure of the white lower part.

Look 12 was the first one which made me look twice, with its interesting cut and the details on the white fabric in the lower part. It feels like something Gabrielle Chanel herself may have designed if she was still alive.

Blazy did his homework, he studied the archives. However, this should not be anything worth mentioning, as it is something that can be expected from a creative director of a heritage brand like Chanel. Blazy included the typical house codes: Not only the tweed, the colour scheme, but also the low waistline which is typical of the early Chanel in the 1920s. Furthermore, there are feathers which Mademoiselle also loved.

The runway set worked well for the pictures, unfortunately, there was a missing link to most of the garments.

Even the set of the runway show was a nod to her because she had a big passion for astrology. The three-dimensional planets created the illusion of being in space and it did feel as if the models were walking on the milky way. While the set worked well for videos – especially the aerial ones of the Grand Palais – and photographs, there was a lack of connection to the clothes. There were only a few items – one was a ball-shaped bag with zodiac signs – which reflected the set. The link to the majority of the collection was missing, unfortunately. It is a bit cynical but the music was the highlight of the show – from Tchaikovsky to “I Was Such a Fool” by Connie Francis, to Rhythm is Dancer which also ended the show.

A nod to Mademoiselle on multiple layers: the colour scheme, the pop of red and the simple cut.

As mentioned above, the colour scheme reflected Chanel’s heritage with white, beige, black and red. Famously, Mademoiselle used to say that the only other acceptable colour next to black and white was red. The red was sometimes just a “pop” – like the earrings on the white outfits with black details. These particular were probably some of the most “Chanel” – the lines and cut reminded of Mademoiselle’s early days. The first designs were more classic, then Blazy also offered his twist with a boxier shape of the suit. Nice, not groundbreaking, but nice. The pantsuits were also “nice”, I may see them sell very well as more and more women appreciate twists on the classic suit for work. However, I do not really see what was particularly “Chanel” about them – apart from the fact that Mademoiselle promoted pants and the suit for women.

These busted classic bags triggered intense online speculation – will Blazy get rid of the Chanel symbols like the classic flap and the camelia?

There is one interesting detail about this collection: While there are florals, there were ensembles in black, red and brown tones with flowers at the lower part, Blazy has gotten rid of the camelia entirely. Is he making a statement here? Is it similar to having busted classic Chanel bags walk the runway?

Look 27 which looked much better on the video than on the pictures.

A lot of the garments have to be seen on video, as the pictures often do not reflect their movement and make them look highly unflattering. Look 27 looks very bad in the pictures, but the movement was beautiful and it is likely a reference of the ease of the jersey which Chanel pioneered for women’s fashion.

Coat with feather details

The coats and jackets were a highly of the show – the black coat with white feather details in the lower part looks fun yet elegant und the beige coat with feathers all over will definitely stand out in the grey winter days.

Even though the collection heavily polarized, I liked Blazy’s interpretation of the iconic tweed suit, especially Look 39 and Looks 72 and 73. The latter looked like knitwear forming a net reminiscent of the classic tweed suit.

A net as a tribute to the classic tweed suit.

Blazy sometimes incorporated further colours such as turquoise in Look 46 which reminded me of when Mademoiselle played with different types of patterns and textiles for her suits.

A play on the tweed textiles for Chanel’s iconic suits.

Look 62 – which stood out because of its colours – also offers another interesting detail: it is a play on the patterns of the tweed suit which is painted or printed on what looks to be a silk jacket.

Was this a nod to the late Karl Lagerfeld?

While these looks involved mid-length skirts which was in line with Gabrielle Chanel’s personal preferences, Look 55 paired the classic jacket with a mini-skirt. This would have been a no-go for the grande dame herself, but maybe this is a tribute to the late Karl Lagerfeld who also often incorporated very short skirts.

Matthieu Blazy is known for experimenting with textiles and materials.

Blazy is known for experimenting with textiles and materials – think about the denim which was actually not denim but leather made to appear as denim at Bottega Veneta. To me Looks 48 and 49 look like he was experimenting with the material and the suit overall. Was it very Chanel? Probably not.

Clearly a “Blazy-for-Chanel”-example – Will this ridicule Chanel’s core customers?

Matthieu Blazy designed on a spectrum for this ready-to-wear collection: Some designs were leaning more towards the Chanel classics, some were a hybrid of his own aesthetics and the heritage of the brand and some were clearly rather Blazy at Bottega Veneta than his interpretation of Chanel. Look 57 is of the “hybrid”-examples – the skirt is a version of a Chanel suit paired with an avant-garde top. While this top pleases Blazy’s fans and those who appreciated his work at Bottega Veneta, it will probably ridicule the core Chanel customers. Given that this is a ready-to-wear collection, it may be a bit too avant-garde for the Chanel-crowd.

Some of the designs were not even avant-garde, but outright unflattering, unfortunately.

One thing which felt off: While this was a collection for Spring/Summer, the colour scheme, textiles and designs rather made it feel like a Fall/Winter collection. There was a lack in summer shoes and accessories such as sunglasses – which should not mean that I am asking to bring last year’s flip flops back.

It was difficult to relate to the beautiful designs due to a lack in diversity of body types.

I would have appreciated a bigger diversity in terms of body types to see how the garments would look like on real bodies. This is a point that I have criticized at most of the shows of the past fashion month. While designs like the floor-length white dress were beautiful on the – if put diplomatically, extremely slender models – , I wonder how they would look on me, in real life.

And coming back to the set: One of the few designs reflecting the space theme was Look 71 – a long gown with a very interesting movement (I recommend to watch the stream of the show). It looked strange, almost alien and that was exactly what was missing from many other looks of the collection. This one was Chanel taken to the future with Blazy’s handwriting: It is elegant, yet interesting with a pinch of drama.

Model Awar Odhiang ended the show at a positive note.

Blazy closed the show with a skirt-and-top combination with colourful feathers. While the colours were beautiful, the look itself fell a bit short. The top did not really go well with the skirt and after seeing Louise Trotter’s recycled fiberglass designs at Bottega Veneta, these ones looked like a safer version. However, I appreciated at the attitude of the last model, Awar Odhiang – she looked happy, danced on the runway and brought the designer on stage. It was a refreshing change from the grumpy and sad looks of the other runways.

What is my verdict? I am, frankly, still a bit torn. I do not think that it was as horrible or disastrous as some people online made it look. However, I had expected a bit more due to the hype around this debut collection. Nevertheless, I would like to give Matthieu Blazy a chance and see what he has planned for the coming collections. I appreciated that he worked with the heritage of the brand without being too literal in many ways – at Chanel where everybody knows the obvious house codes, it may be challenging to strike the right balance. Moreover, it was a good mix of Chanel’s heritage and his own design language. Therefore, even though I am not completely convinced yet, I have not given up hopes for the future of Chanel.

Sources Title Image

Chanel & Matthieu Blazy official Instagram accounts.

Disclaimer

This article is based on the personal, views, experiences and research of the author, no fees were received by the organisations and people mentioned above. All information is alleged, as of the date of publishing/updating and for entertainment purposes only.

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