Chanel’s new creative director, Matthieu Blazy, has already made a splash with his debut collection at Paris Fashion Week. After announcing a refreshed roster of house ambassadors, including Nicole Kidman and Ayo Edebiri, Blazy’s runway similarly proved an exciting new direction.
That’s not to say Spring Summer 2026 didn’t contain plenty of references to the house codes. In many ways it was an ode to the house founder, Coco Chanel, and her pioneering take on womenswear.
“Chanel is about love,” Blazy described of his debut collection. “The birth of Modernity in fashion comes from a love story. This is what I find most beautiful. It has no time or space; this is an idea of freedom. The freedom worn and won by Gabrielle Chanel.”
Referencing the preferred uniform of the maison’s namesake, the first looks down the runway were an homage to Chanel suiting. Removing stiffness and formality from these looks, the matching sets featured boxy, cropped blazers over relaxed tweed trousers for ultimate casual androgyny. Sure to be a popular piece from the collection, the simple white button-up, donned on the front row by Kidman, offered a daytime take on a tuxedo shirt, with a classic bib front and a distinctive red ‘Chanel’ embroidered at the waist.
Blazy’s take on Chanel tweed drew on British patterns and colours, in a nod to Coco Chanel’s English, polo-playing lover and muse, Boy Capel. With traditional brown tweed and grey plaid, these new patterns stood out amid more common hues used by the house in its suiting, such as black, white and red. Clean black-and-white lines observed across several Art Deco-inspired looks paid homage to Chanel’s distinct minimalist packaging.
Meanwhile, future red carpets are set to receive an injection of old world elegance thanks to Blazy’s take on formalwear. From luminous, fluid silk, and billowing feathered skirts, to cascading florals, the feminine gowns of Chanel SS26 moved gracefully down the runway.
Accessories remained true to the house roots, with embellishments invoking the concept of the forward-thinking Chanel universe. From traditional contrasting, toe-capped shoes, to a wild new take on the Chanel camellia, new interpretations of the maison’s icons abound.
The runway’s Grand Palais setting was transformed with planetary motifs, symbolic of Chanel’s expansive ‘universe’. The maison welcomed a slew of celebrity clientele to its front rows, including Margot Robbie, Pedro Pascal, Jennie Kim, Nicole Kidman, Ayo Edebiri and Gracie Abrams.
Following a year of “fashion music chairs”, in which several major houses handed the reins of artistic leadership to new talent, the Spring Summer 2026 runways were among the most anticipated in years. With Matthieu Blazy’s debut at Chanel, devotees of the brand are sure to be thrilled by a new direction.
Chanel SS26 Runway
View highlights from the debut collection of Matthieu Blazy.
