What made Matthieu Blazy’s first Cruise show for Chanel memorable?
Mermaids, seaside chic and a return to the brand’s origins
Location
Chanel returned to the place where its resort mythology began – Biarritz on the Atlantic coast. It was here, in 1915, that Gabrielle Chanel opened her first couture salon, laying the foundation for what would become the fashion house.
The show took place at Le Casino Municipal, an Art Deco building with large windows overlooking the ocean. The interior functioned as a set without needing decoration: light, mirrors, and the atmosphere of old-world seaside glamour, with the sea itself as the leading character.
Teaser
The mood of the collection was established even before the show through a black-and-white video featuring the image of a mermaid, which became the central metaphor of the entire project. A dancer also appears in the film, while the closing scenes reference an archival photograph of Coco Chanel with Serge Lifar.
Here, the mermaid is not a decorative motif but a symbol of transformation, freedom, and duality around which the entire collection was built.
Invitation
The invitation to the show came in the form of a small shell-shaped pendant – a subtle yet eloquent hint at the maritime theme and the location of the presentation.
Guests included Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton, A$AP Rocky, Sofia Coppola, Marion Cotillard, Paloma Elsesser, Charlotte Casiraghi, and other stars seated in the front row.
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Collection
For his first Cruise collection for Chanel, Matthieu Blazy built the narrative around the image of the mermaid and coastal mythology, combining the house archives with beachside aesthetics. The runway became an imagined shoreline where reality and fantasy constantly exchanged places.
The collection featured dresses and suits covered in sequins resembling fish scales, textures inspired by coral and fishing nets, heavy boots, 1920s-style bathing caps, shell-shaped jewelry, and Basque stripes referencing the geography of Biarritz.
The eveningwear felt especially light: sandy hues, semi-sheer silhouettes, and newspaper prints added irony as well as a playful dialogue with archive and memory.
Blazy also reinterpreted the little black dress, restoring its volume and theatricality, while giving tweed softness and the faded effect of fabric bleached by the sun.
Matthieu Blazy’s first Cruise show for Chanel became a cohesive story about the house’s origins and their contemporary reinterpretation. Archival codes, maritime symbolism, and mythological imagery came together in a living, fluid system where the past is not recreated, but reimagined – lightly, ironically, and without losing its unmistakable identity.
Photo: Instagram @chanelofficial
