Key facts
- Chanel's Grand Palais was transformed into a fairy tale garden for its latest couture show.
- Designer Matthieu Blazy's collection was inspired by fairy tales and Gabrielle Chanel's life.
- The designs incorporated whimsical elements like beanstalks, butterflies, and animal-shaped bags.
- Hidden details such as painted linings and stitched to-do lists were featured on garments.
- The collection aimed to balance fantasy with practical, wearable clothing for women.
- The show featured a diverse cast of women of all ages.
Chanel's Grand Palais was transformed into a dark, enchanted garden for designer Matthieu Blazy's second couture show. Giant beanstalks and oversized, slightly unsettling flowers set the scene for a collection inspired by fairy tales and the life of founder Gabrielle Chanel.
Blazy, who arrived from Bottega Veneta, found inspiration in a book of fairy tales discovered in Chanel's former apartment. He envisioned Chanel's rise from an orphanage to fashion icon as a modern Jack and the Beanstalk narrative, where the "gold" brought back is the enduring success of the house.
The clothing reflected this theme, with the opening look featuring a sheer Chanel suit embroidered with tiny bean shoots. Vines adorned dresses and shoes, while butterflies and blossoms appeared unexpectedly. Evening bags were crafted in the shapes of sleeping bears and chickens, and heels were sculpted into butterflies and golden eggs, with subtle nods to characters like Goldilocks and Puss in Boots.
Beneath the whimsy, Blazy incorporated hidden details, such as painted linings and mock to-do lists stitched into silk on jacket interiors. Frayed edges on garments were a deliberate reference to Coco Chanel's own habit of pinning and altering her clothes. Blazy stated that haute couture at Chanel is "for women, their realities and their adventures of the everyday."
This philosophy translated into practical, wearable pieces, including sharply cut coats, a red sequined shift, and a minimalist black tunic and trousers ensemble. The casting, featuring women of all ages, underscored the collection's emphasis on real-life wearability. The show concluded not with a traditional wedding gown, but with a stark black off-the-shoulder dress, a subtle nod to Chanel's unmarried status.
The front row was a star-studded affair, with attendees like Tilda Swinton, Michelle Yeoh, Catherine Deneuve, Pedro Pascal, and Lupita Nyong'o present, all drawn by the spectacle and the house's enduring allure.