Matthieu Blazy: Craft and Transformation in a New Chapter at Chanel
Matthieu Blazy brings to Chanel a career marked by careful experimentation with what a garment can be. Where fashion often seeks novelty through silhouette alone, his practice investigates the technical and emotional possibilities of materials, asking how everyday objects, couture craft and fashion memory can inform one another.
Cover photograph: Vogue France / Forces of Fashion professional portrait of Matthieu Blazy, 2024. Source: https://www.vogue.fr/article/matthieu-blazy-directeur-artistique-chanel.
Training and early collaborations
Born in Paris and educated at La Cambre in Brussels, Blazy developed his early career with designers and houses including Raf Simons, Maison Margiela and Céline under Phoebe Philo. These experiences offered distinct lessons in menswear, artisanal construction and the relationship between a garment’s surface and its underlying form.
A remarkable period at Bottega Veneta
Blazy became creative director of Bottega Veneta in 2021. His approach explored the limits of leather craftsmanship, producing seemingly familiar materials and objects through sophisticated techniques. Projects such as the brand’s unexpected interpretations of denim and knitwear demonstrated that exceptional craft can be deliberately understated.
Taking the helm at Chanel
Chanel announced his appointment as artistic director in December 2024. The role encompasses haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories, placing him in conversation with the historical vocabulary of tweed, the suit, the camellia and other house codes. His task is not to erase those associations but to give them a new life through technique and point of view.
Reading Fall/Winter 2026–27
Selected imagery from Chanel’s Fall/Winter 2026–27 presentation offers evidence of Blazy’s attention to how garments move and to the way recognizable house elements can be recombined. The following photographs come from the official collection gallery of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, with individual look numbers identified.
Fashion as a way of seeing
What distinguishes Blazy is a sense that experimentation should not become detached from the garment’s relationship to the body. His work proposes a modern luxury in which technical invention, tactile experience and cultural continuity can be equally important.
Selected references
https://www.vogue.com/article/chanel-appoints-matthieu-blazy-as-artistic-director | https://www.fhcm.paris/en/ | https://lacambre.be/en/news/matthieu-blazy-est-nomme-au-poste-de-directeur-artistique-de-chanel
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