Introduction to Haute Couture
Matthieu Blazy’s first haute couture show for Chanel plunged into a forest fantasy amid lush pink toadstools, delivering a fresh take on classic house codes that felt both carefree and confidently chic. Based on the runway and previous haute couture shows this week, it seems an emerging trend could be millennial pink alongside sheer tulle, peplum trims and airy, weightless tailoring.
The Vision of Couture
For Blazy, Chanel represents a unique vision of couture that he wanted to explore in his debut collection. "There’s something about the Chanel lightness that I really want to explore," he said. "Couture doesn’t have to be heavy. It doesn’t have to be big. It’s all about how it’s made, how it falls on the body." His debut Spring/Summer 2026 collection joins the list of this season’s most anticipated artistic debuts and has received critical acclaim.
Collection Details
The collection was permeated with a sense of weightlessness – mint tones, sheer layers, tulle stripes and yellow accents gave the garments an airy quality. Long, flowing lines replaced rigidity, it was clear this was couture meant to move. Within this gentleness, Blazy kept Chanel’s DNA intact. The classic just-below-the-knee length returned again and again – plunging waists, flapper-style V-necks and loose, boyish silhouettes recalled Gabrielle Chanel’s liberated vision of the 1920s.
Reinterpretation of Classic Designs
The traditional, perhaps bourgeois, fitted tweed jackets were reworked into oversized sport coats, while the classic Chanel pump was reworked into a slingback shoe, giving it a cooler and more contemporary touch. The focus of the show was Blazy’s reinterpretation of the little black dress. Invented by Gabrielle Chanel, “LBD” became an abbreviation for elegance and independence. Blazy’s versions honored this lineage. Some were simple, with clean boatnecks and straight hems; others were discreetly decorated with small jeweled brooches.
Modernizing Timeless Pieces
They felt modern without losing their timelessness – a reminder that Chanel’s most radical idea was, and still is, simplicity. The final look clarified Blazy’s vision. The bride, arrived in an oyster white two-piece: a feathered midi skirt paired with a loose jacket, white feathers flowing through her hair. It echoed the iridescent, feathered accents seen at other shows, suggesting a broader couture shift toward airy lightness and a new kind of femininity that emphasizes fluid forms and freedom, as opposed to rigid, binding structures.
Celebrity Attendees
Singer Dua Lipa brought sunshine to Paris in a yellow, black and orange two-piece, while singer Gracie Abrams also opted for summer colors in a yellow tweed jacket. Rapper A$AP Rocky kept things low-key in a brown leather trench coat and salmon shirt. Actress Nicole Kidman graced the front row alongside former Vogue editor-in-chief, wearing a black silk dress with lush monochrome feathers from the maison’s Pre-Fall 2026 collection. Actress Penelope Cruz also opted for an all-black crochet two-piece, also from Chanel’s Pre-Fall collection.
Conclusion
Blazy’s first haute couture show proved that couture could honor heritage while vividly addressing the future of fashion, preserving Chanel’s codes while softening its edges.
