PARIS (AP) — The Grand Palais in Paris was transformed Tuesday into something between a dream and a warning: giant beanstalks stretching toward the ceiling, oversized flowers blooming in colors just a little too vivid to feel entirely safe. It was the setting for Chanel’s latest couture show, and it set the tone perfectly.
Celebrities including Tilda Swinton, Michelle Yeoh, and Catherine Deneuve were seated among the audience — the kind of star-studded crowd that only a fashion house of Chanel’s stature can reliably attract.
The creative force behind it all was designer Matthieu Blazy, who drew his inspiration from an unlikely source: a small leather-bound book of fairy tales he discovered on a shelf in house founder Gabrielle Chanel’s former apartment.
“I started to wonder, was Gabrielle Chanel’s life a fairy tale?” Blazy reflected.
He concluded that it was — specifically a version of Jack and the Beanstalk. In his reading, Chanel was the unlikely climber who rose from a convent orphanage to the pinnacle of the fashion world, daring everything and returning with the prize.
Blazy came to Chanel from Bottega Veneta and is still relatively new to the role. The house was previously led by Karl Lagerfeld for 36 years until his death in 2019, followed by his longtime deputy Virginie Viard, who held the position until 2024. Tuesday’s presentation was only Blazy’s second couture show, yet the house already feels noticeably refreshed under his direction.
The clothing itself told the story. The first look featured a sheer Chanel suit with embroidery arranged to resemble tiny bean shoots. Vines wound their way up dresses and curled around the heels of shoes. Butterflies and blossoms appeared in unexpected places throughout the collection.
Small evening bags were crafted in the shapes of sleeping bears and plump chickens, while heels were sculpted into butterflies and golden eggs. Subtle references to Goldilocks, Puss in Boots, and the Ugly Duckling were woven throughout — though Blazy was careful never to make the references too obvious.
Much of the craftsmanship was hidden from plain sight. Jackets were lined with painted artwork and mock to-do lists stitched in sheer silk — the highest level of couture technique applied to something deliberately mundane. Deliberately frayed edges paid homage to Coco Chanel’s well-known habit of attacking her own garments with pins during fittings.
“Haute Couture at Chanel is not just a fairy tale; in essence it is for women, their realities and their adventures of the everyday,” Blazy said.
That grounded philosophy shaped the entire collection. Rather than leaning into extravagance, Blazy continually stripped pieces back, leaving clothes that felt genuinely livable: a precisely cut coat, a red sequined shift, an evening look reduced to a simple black tunic and trousers.
It is perhaps Chanel’s oldest and most enduring idea — to walk into a room in something simple and make everyone else appear overdressed — and Blazy has managed to make that idea feel fresh again.
He also cast models across a wide range of ages, letting the clothes make the argument without any words needed.
Following the traditional bridal finale gown came a closing look that departed from convention: a bare black off-the-shoulder dress that felt less like a wedding and more like a statement. The reminder was implicit — Chanel herself famously never married.
The audience that witnessed all of this included Swinton and Pedro Pascal, Yeoh and Lupita Nyong’o, Deneuve and Vanessa Paradis, boxer Imane Khelif, and skater Surya Bonaly. They arrived for a spectacle. Blazy sent them home thinking about their shopping lists.
