A new Chanel is on the horizon this Spring/Summer 2026, after longtime deputy of Karl Lagerfeld, Virginie Viard, announced her departure from the house in June 2024. But six months later, Matthieu Blazy graciously stepped up to the plate. The Paris-born designer first began his career at Raf Simmons, and most recently at Bottega Veneta, before being appointed as Artistic Director of Chanel last December. Since then, the Chanel runway has showcased the designs of the Chanel Studio in four shows, while waiting for a new Artistic Director to take the reins.

Paris Fashion Week has been a whirlwind of debuts—from Jonathan Anderson at Dior to Lazaro Hernandez & Jack McCollough at Loewe—but with Blazy’s Chanel debut as the closing, the excitement surrounding the week’s finale has steadily intensified.

Back in Paris’ Grand Palais, the ballroom was decorated with a suspended solar system, gargantuan 3D glowing planets, and a glossy galaxy runway. The celebrities began to file into the front row. Margo Robbie, Kendall Jenner, Vanessa Paradis and daughter Lily-Rose Depp, Pedro Pascal, Nicole Kidman, and the newest and first Blazy appointed Chanel girl, Ayo Edebri, each took their seats. Eventually, the room glittered from its starry audience, anticipation only rising, ready for Blazy’s Big Bang.

Courtesy of Chanel

The new reign began with a simple cropped blazer and twin low-waist pants, but at second glance, the details define the new era. A micro, houndstooth taupe pattern paints the first look. It’s closures: simplified. Double buttons and a collar shaven down to a petite flat lay. Shoulders are widened, sleeves rolled, and pants loosely fit, paired with a simple chocolate brown belt that shows no visible Chanel motifs. Looking down, classic black and white color-blocked shoes peek from the model’s billowing pant leg, and carried at her side is a mangled Chanel 2.55 handbag. Blazy’s Chanel girl can be immediately identified as refreshed and relaxed.

Prior to his debut, Mattieu Blazy had imagined a conversation with Gabrielle Chanel—who loved outer space. “For this first Chanel show, I wanted to do something quite universal, like a dream, something outside of time,” Blazy said in a statement shared by the maison on Instagram. “I was fascinated by the universe of stars, a theme so dear to the House. We all observe the same sky, and I think it provokes the same emotions in us.”

Courtesy of Chanel

Your grandmother’s Chanel tweed has undergone a transformation. Torn, feathered, ripped, untethered, the contemporary tweed is reinterpreted in messier, more relaxed fits.

The classic Chanel tweed coat is characterized by an oval silhouette with a fluffier texture and decorative trimmings. Not unlike the Maison’s past collections, tweed is continuously reinterpreted, but this season in novel textures and movements. The slouchy knit three-piece was a standout—an open, grid knit resembling a tweed plaid pattern of Chanel’s past. A plaid knee-length skirt mimics the same style, rendered in a light sheer fabric.

Courtesy of Chanel

Perhaps it’s the intergalactic ballroom, but a theme of weightlessness seems to pervade the collection’s silhouettes. Blazy introduces a series of wrap skirts, buttoned thrice at the hip with an airy slit opening, mirrored through various leathers, knits, tweeds, and flapper-esque beaded fabrics.

Gowns are energized by a youthful spirit, featuring floral emblems, dramatic and vibrant plumes, and luxurious silk draperies. Blazy has repurposed the house’s fabrics and sewn them through his own design language.

Not unlike Jonathan Anderson’s new spin on Dior, the Chanel logo becomes subtle, and the double C monogram motif is only placed with intention. Chanel’s branding is stripped down and predominantly conveyed through its iconic craftsmanship and hallmark styles—bags no longer need to be quite obviously marked as “Chanel.”

Notably, the 2.55 purse has been pried open—perhaps a nod to the house’s dramatic reinvention—the flap having equipped a wire that can be molded and toyed into various shapes. Accessories take a further step into the future of luxury styles: spiking feather headpieces, orbital bangles and chokers, an opulent egg clutch, and new interpretations of classic quilted handbags.

Courtesy of Chanel

Upon the finale, a joyous, cheesing Awar Odhiang spun and gestured to the audience—who were on their feet in a standing ovation—showcasing a flouncy, feathered spring skirt to close out Blazy’s Chanel debut. Watching Blazy embrace his first Chanel closing muse, it was impossible not to get teary-eyed, caught up in the excitement for the maison’s promising leadership.

WOW! What an evening.

Courtesy of Chanel