For his Chanel Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show, Matthieu Blazy teaches us the art of elegance under any circumstance, inherited from Gabrielle Chanel.
By Léa Zetlaoui.
The Chanel frenzy at Paris Fashion Week
Even before Matthieu Blazy unveiled his Chanel Fall/Winter 2026-2027 show at the Grand Palais on March 9th, 2026, the house was already on everyone’s lips during Paris Fashion Week. Both on Instagram and TikTok, a new frenzy quickly spread, aside from the usual excitement triggered by runway shows. To understand where it came from, one simply had to go to Rue Cambon.
At the historic address of Chanel, a crowd of journalists, stylists, content creators and top models gathered to celebrate the arrival in stores of the very first collection designed by Matthieu Blazy for the house.
Appointed creative director of the house in 2024, the Franco-Belgian designer presented his first show last September. Praised by both the public and critics alike, it was followed by a Métiers d’art show unveiled on the New York subway in November 2025, and by his debut haute couture collection in January 2026. Each time, the conclusion has been very clear — Matthieu Blazy brings lightness and modernity to the house’s codes.
The art of elegance as a founding principle
On Monday 9th, the designer’s second ready-to-wear collection was awaited with feverish curiosity. The latter extended his dialogue with Chanel’s heritage, playing with the house’s signature codes. Tweed suits, camellias and gold chains were revamped with a carefully mastered nonchalance.
The caterpillar and butterfly theory
Gabrielle Chanel‘s quote was the starting point of the collection: “Fashion is both caterpillar and butterfly. Be a caterpillar by day and a butterfly by night. There is nothing more comfortable than a caterpillar and nothing more made for love than a butterfly. We need dresses that crawl and dresses that fly. The butterfly doesn’t go to the market, and the caterpillar doesn’t go to the ball.”
Drawing from the masculine wardrobe, as well as from those who, like her, worked and moved freely, she initiated a true functional revolution in womenswear. By introducing the notion of practicality into the world of luxury, the designer profoundly reshaped its codes. From then on, clothing had to support everyday life, without putting aside its inspirational power.
A praise of metamorphosis
As a pioneer of the modern wardrobe, Gabrielle Chanel embraced this European rule — now obsolete — and used it as a founding principle of her own stylistic vocabulary. At the time, her clothes were suitable for every moment of the day, guided by practicality and freedom of movement.
At the heart of the house’s legacy, this duality between functional simplicity and transformative power now nurtures Matthieu Blazy’s vision. With this new collection, the designer celebrates these two essential dimensions — the rigor of everyday life and the momentum of metamorphosis.
A fourth collection that extends a refined dialogue with Gabrielle Chanel, initiated with his first show. Although the caterpillar and butterfly continue to coexist, they remind us that fashion is both an art of living and an art of transformation.
Matthieu Blazy, Chanel of the past and present
Across seventy-nine casual and carefree silhouettes, the collection unfolds like a journey through time. Moving from the 1920s to the 1960s, all the way to the present day, the looks were layered over one another with a studied nonchalance. The Chanel suit emerges as the true guiding thread of the whole wardrobe.
Revamping the original Chanel suit
Turned into a playground for experimentation, Matthieu Blazy revisited its structure and fabrics. The design made traditional tweeds, ribbed knits and hybrid textiles, like technical fibers, lurex or light gauze, echo one another. Some pieces reveal particularly intricate craft work, such as suits in knitted mesh woven with pearls, whose supple construction offers unprecedented freedom of movement.
One can notice that the style has moved away from its classic composition. The traditional jacket sometimes gives way to a bouclé tweed overshirt or a men-inspired jacket, introducing a new sense of ease into the house’s language.
As the collection progressed, a transformation took place. As though night were gradually setting in, the fabrics started catching the light and becoming more fluid. Dresses and coats with either pared-down lines or rich ornamentation accompanied that shift, as did the accessories that extended that interplay between reality and illusion.
“Chanel is the freedom to choose between the caterpillar and the butterfly whenever you want. I wish to create a canvas for women to be unapologetically who they are and who they want to be,” Matthieu Blazy concluded.