Matthieu Blazy Makes His Long-Awaited Couture Debut

Ever since Matthieu Blazy was announced as Chanel’s new creative director back in December of 2024, the fashion world has been waiting with bated breath for him to show his first couture collection. Couture is, after all, the height of fashion, where the industry’s greatest artists are given the freedom and the resources to really let their creativity soar. And if there’s anyone the industry seems excited to see truly let loose, it’s Blazy.

Of course, there are still customers he needs to appeal to — and the Chanel couture customer is quite a particular kind of woman — but if there’s one place where fantasy can still reign supreme in fashion, one would hope it is on the Paris couture runway.

Blazy’s runway itself was certainly giving fantasy vibes. Indeed, it looked like something out of a children’s faerie tale story book.

Chanel Spring 2026 Couture

The clothes, on the other hand, were much more grounded — still gorgeous, still brimming with the kind of intricate details and  complex constructions that can never really be communicated in a head-to-toe runway photo — but the overall effect was one of wearability.

Of course, there were a handful of wilder pieces mixed in — like the hooded feather chubby that made the model wearing it look like she was half hedgehog, or those ruched off-the-shoulder capes that transformed the models’ arms into something resembling bird wings — but overall, the clothes themselves felt firmly rooted in reality.

Well, maybe some of those sheer looks weren’t quite as wearer-friendly, but at least Blazy didn’t leave anyone’s nipples exposed! So many designers think nothing of sending a young model out on the runway with nothing covering her chest but a whisper of the most gossamer tulle. Doing head-to-toe sheer without actually exposing anything is much more interesting and a much more adept display of one’s talent — not to mention one’s love of women. Blazy did a lot of sheer in this show, but he also did a lot with it — pushing near-nudeness about as far as it could go without veering into the well-trod (dare we say over-trod) realm of the red carpet naked dress.

And this collection really did have some absolutely gorgeous moments. The feather pieces were stunning.

And the densely layered fringe? Fantastic.

And although Blazy didn’t show a lot in the way of red carpet-worthy gowns, one got the sense from what he did show that Chanel might actually, FINALLY have a shot at producing something for, say, The Oscars, that isn’t instantly forgotten.

All in all, a wonderful first couture outing for the talented Mr. Blazy. He really seems to be settling into himself at Chanel and we can’t wait to see what he does next.