It’s Chanel, Bitch
‍Gimme More
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Chanel? Gimme more. Much, much more.

Monday afternoon Matthieu Blazy debuted his third ready to wear collection for Chanel. Under an illuminated flight of cranes, Blazy wove a fairytale world of tulle, bouclé, saturated color, fringe, and movement. It was arresting.
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For more than a century, Chanel has been a mainstay of luxury and prestige. Blazy has managed to take a prominent house and much like the fictional prince from Sleeping Beauty, he has woken Chanel from a somewhat staid slumber and imbued the house with new life.
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And as the saying goes, the third time’s the charm. For Blazy, it certainly was—although neither of his previous ready to wear collections were lacking either. But for his third, it’s safe to say that Blazy has truly come into his own.

While I gasped out loud at Look 6—a sheer coral woven skirt with a fringe of mint-colored flowers gathering at the hem topped with a buttery-beige jacket that was itself a masterpiece of beading, fringe, and embellishment—it was Looks 15 and 16 that were truly arresting.
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It was as if Degas’ ballerina statue, Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, had pirouetted onto the catwalk. Look 15—a beige and ivory froth of tulle skirt that blossomed from a beige tweed fitted top. The top, high in front with a plunging u-shaped back, was finished with a frayed edge, ballerina sleeves, and gold buttons. Golden frog closures ran down the back lending an almost corset-like feel to the garment. Breathtaking.

Look 16? Possibly even better—a ballerina bathed in a soft blue-lavender light. The top a fitted bodice lined with stays and a row of buttons running down the center, it was molded to fit low on the hips—a Blazy favorite—before flaring into a grand tulle skirt. It’s uneven, layered hemmed culminated just above the ankle to reveal a black and white cap-toed block mule, a reinvention of Chanel’s ubiquitous two-toned shoe. Both looks featured golden birds alighting on the models’ ears.

The runway? Cohesive. Blazy fluent in Chanel’s codes and language, but hardly beholden to them. The ubiquitous tweed suit was reimagined, its proportions loosened, more geometric, its construction reconsidered. Bouclé jackets, brocade, and sharply tailored silhouettes mingled with sheer lingerie-inspired pieces, exposed boning, and skirts that sat impossibly low on the hips. No one does a detail or a plaid quite like Blazy. Fringe swung, woven from floral appliqués, beading, and bouclé. Buttons? Jewelry. Backs? As considered as fronts. And the colors! Alive. Bright red; confident goldenrod (Look 79); tart, snapping pink; fresh mint green. Nothing precious. Everything asking to be touched. Felt. Worn.

And the end result? Unfortunately, I’m not going to purchase a head-to-toe Chanel look—not that I wouldn’t love to collect several—but Blazy has changed my perspective on fashion. I’m looking at clothes a little differently.

Me, who has clung to neutrals like Wolfie to a good bone? Blazy has me reconsidering everything. I’m craving color. Brocade. Bouclé. Vintage buttons—a scavenger hunt I can’t wait to start. I’m already envisioning them on jackets and blazers…. And I’m looking for unusual closures. I’ve never seen a frog I didn’t like… A little fringe. The kind of inspiring detail that makes you turn a jacket around to see what’s happening in the back à la Look 6.

I’m finding inspiration well beyond Chanel’s own atelier. A richly textured, color-saturated jacket—Isabel Marant’s satin puffer. An unexpected pairing of color—in ba&sh’s Maja cardigan. A dress with movement. A shoe with personality. An embellished jean. Pieces that capture the spirit of the collection without attempting to replicate it.

Because great fashion doesn’t simply make you want what you’ve seen on the runway. It should change what you notice afterward. It shapes how you perceive your closet, even the world around you. You notice the beauty in the little things. A color you hadn’t paid attention to before. The magic in the flight of a brightly plumed bird.

And that pause? That reverence? Perhaps that is the real Chanel Effect and the beauty of Blazy.