On the first morning of Paris Haute Couture Week, Matthieu Blazy transformed the Grand Palais into a landscape of allegory and invention. Magic beans sprouted from the runway floor, creeping vines climbed ivory pillars, and swan-shaped buttons fastened jackets that seemed to belong to a storybook rather than a showroom.
Chanel’s Fall/Winter 2026 Haute Couture collection unfolded as a fable rendered in tweed, tulle, and meticulously sculpted organza. Blazy, now in his second couture season for the house, doubled down on the whimsical precision that defined his debut — but with a surer hand and a more refined dialogue between fantasy and wearability.
For the client accustomed to Chanel’s two-piece suiting, this collection will require an adjustment in proportion and expectation. But the commercial logic is sound: in a couture market increasingly driven by collecting and connoisseurship, Blazy’s narrative-driven approach positions Chanel as the house where allegory and craftsmanship meet at their most potent.
Blazy’s thesis appears to be that Chanel’s future lies in embracing the surreal rather than retreating into the archival. The swan motif alone — appearing as buttons, embroidery, and a single extraordinary feathered headpiece — suggested a designer unafraid of sentiment when executed with rigor.
