5 min readThe day that all the Bazaar editors who’d traveled to Paris for Fashion Week returned, our office was aflutter with gossip: Which collections had they loved? Who had they seen? But, most importantly, what did they buy from Chanel? When Mathieu Blazy’s debut collection dropped in Paris stores, conveniently right in the middle of Fashion Week, the industry flocked to the brand boutiques. Back stateside, my Instagram rotated through photo after reel after photo of editors and buyers trying on shoes and gagging over jackets. Group chats were buzzing, shopping bags bursting. Our team’s purchases included the croc pumps, the turquoise square-toe slingbacks, and the barely-cap-toe heels.
Chanel Spring 2026
The new Chanel collection dropped in the United States the following week on Friday, March 13. The next Thursday evening, when I strolled past both the 57th Street and the SoHo stores, lines were out the door. Shoppers are itching to get a taste of the magic Blazy created on the runways, where he infused the well-known Chanel codes with youthful vibrancy and clever whimsy. And it’s not just editors and buyers. The collection brought Sierra Goodhue, a Boston-based marketing manager who runs the fashion Substack Hodgepodge on the side, into the Chanel boutique for the first time. “I have never bought anything from Chanel but this collection I loved!” she said, posting two images of herself trying on the square-toed heels to her Instagram. (She hasn’t made a purchase yet; she’s waiting for the red croc heels to arrive at that location.)
And it’s not just Chanel. Last year, almost all of the major luxury houses shuffled creative directors. As their 2026 collections hit stores, they’ve sparked a level of passion we haven’t seen in a while. The new collections from brands like Chanel, Versace, and Celine have elicited desire among consumers, winning over a new swath of customers in the process. There’s a collective desire not just to buy but to shop—to go in store, to step into the world of the brand and experience the materials and silhouettes firsthand.
In the case of Celine, Michael Rider wooed us last summer with a collection of French-leaning New Wave prep, punctuated with destined-to-be-It items like the lace-up “ballet” shoes and the re-issue of the Phantom bag. Nicholas Shoebridge, who runs social for Assouline, recently headed in-store to see for himself the appeal of the new items. He’s currently on the wait list for the ballet shoes (according to an in-store employee, they can’t keep them in stock) and is anxious to see which additional accessories will come in. Looking ahead, he wants to check out the ready-to-wear in Paris—non-EU residents can enjoy a VAT refund on purchases made in Europe.
“At Celine, it’s the new Michael Rider stuff I really like,” he says, noting that he wanted to see it in person before purchasing. Shoebridge prefers shopping IRL to online scrolling in general, a habit he’s noticed has leaned towards brand-specific boutiques in recent seasons. “There aren’t many good multibrand stores in New York anymore. And if there are, flagships usually have the product first,” he says. “My most recent purchases have all been made in-store. It’s a personal experience. It’s nice to build a relationship with staff.”
Versace is an even more unique situation. In his single season at the helm, Dario Vitale gave us his sleazy, sexy take on ‘80s prep, a gutsy collection that was largely well received and definitely widely discussed. But now he’s out, so you better shop soon. Jalil Johnson, writer and author of the Substack Consider Yourself Cultured, attended an in-store shopping event hosted by fellow Substacker Emilia Petrarca. He bought green boxer briefs and a commercial version of the striped polo tank shown on the runway. They didn’t have any of the shoes in his size—he likes to try on first—so he’ll have to go back. (He has also been to Celine as Rider’s collection has been rolling in.)
“This is my first era of being able to really participate,” he says of engaging in the luxury market. Johnson has made a career of explaining how he takes inspiration from all different sources—the runway is only one of them—and translates that into his own day-to-day style. “You can often get the look without buying into the brand,” he says of runway collections, but this season was different for him. “Shopping had, I don’t want to say plateaued, but there hasn’t been that same emotion. And I think with Michael’s Celine, Matthieu’s Chanel, Dario’s Versace, there’s such emotion in it that it drives you to want to own a piece of it, to carry that emotion to your life.” Similarly, Goodhue keeps up with fashion and purchases luxury pieces, but, until now, she’s only bought them secondhand.
This specific breed of customer may be purchasing for the first time, but they are by no means new to fashion fandom. At Versace’s downtown location, a store employee noted that there was an uptick in excitement from a very niche client: one who has been waiting for this sort of creativity from these historic fashion houses—this is a for-the-heads situation. She’s enjoyed entertaining knowledgeable shoppers who want to have a conversation about Vitale’s new collection. Working there, she feels like she’s engaging with fashion history, something “to tell my kids about one day.”
The luxury market is, of course, primarily made up of blue-chip consumers who are less engaged with the minutia of the industry. “A Dior client will stay a client,” said an in-store employee for Dior. But the Jonathan Anderson shopper? She’s new. (That same employee noted Anderson’s collection was selling through despite initial hesitation from long-term clients.) In the Celine store, I found a loyal shopper who was visiting from Charleston with her mom and asked her about the switch-up. She said she wasn’t aware of the specific changes but had noticed a new direction and liked it. Immediately after, I bumped into another fashion editor looking to see Rider’s collection in person.
Tom Ford Fall 2026
At Tom Ford, where Haider Ackermann debuted to much applause, the excitement is slowly trickling in, as well. “You have a real fashion customer who is in-the-know, really excited to get the new Haider, and then a loyal customer who likes that it feels fresh,” said an in-store employee, who applied to work in the store specifically because of the new creative director’s appointment. She says she’s enjoyed seeing longtime customers discover Ackermann’s wizardry with fit and silhouette: “There’s a shift when they try pieces on.”
“There is a fantasy element,” says Johnson, of the cross-brand phenomenon. It contradicts the second wave of quiet luxury that Love Story has been ushering in, one that has us burnt out on so-called simplicity, online shopping for the perfect beige sweater. These new luxury shoppers are looking for indulgence. “I think the thing that’s been missing with the onslaught of quiet luxury because of CBK is that those clothes are, in essence, too real. They’re real life,” he posits. “New Chanel and Versace remind us, I think, of why we all fell in love with fashion in the first place. There’s this fantastical element that’s like, you can only tap into this life if you own this piece.”