Matthieu Blazy's Couture Debut at Chanel Was a Total Fantasy
Complete with pink trees and giant mushrooms.
Fashion is a fantasy and a fairytale, and couture is the foundation of it all. Matthieu Blazy just proved this with his debut haute couture show for Chanel. Light, flowing and inspired by taking flight, this collection presents the woman as the bird.
Blazy transformed the Grand Palais into a surreal garden that felt like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss illustration, or your wildest dreams. Pink trees and giant mushrooms filled the space, while Dua Lipa, Gracie Abrams and A$AP Rocky graced the front row.
The Chanel suit opened the show, stripped down to its bare essentials and constructed from transparent silk mousseline in a delicate nod to the house’s history. More tokens and artefacts appeared throughout, such as a bottle of N°5 and a red lipstick, embroidered, slipped into a pocket or added as accessories. Blazy’s ability to honor house codes whilst adding something uneniably fresh was felt throughout.
As the show unfolded, a metamorphosis took place where the women began to transform into birds. Realised through flowing fabrics, layers and pleating, but rarely actual feathers, they started to appear. You can spot looks reminiscent of a black raven, the humble grey pigeon, a pink spoonbill, the linear heron and a crested cockatoo. With exotic plumage and flowing silhouettes, the birds are the ultimate expression of freedom.
“Haute Couture is the very soul of Chanel – it is the foundation and the full expression of the House. These are clothes that are as much about the wearer as the designer. It’s the clothes worn that give them a true story; their own story and an emotional resonance, giving women a canvas to tell their own story,” shared Blazy in his show notes. The designer invites you into an aviary dream world, where you might just float away.
Take a look at the collection above, and for more on fashion week, check out our FW26 recap.
