{"id":3531,"date":"2026-03-17T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=3531"},"modified":"2026-03-17T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:00:00","slug":"matthieu-blazys-first-chanel-collection-is-in-stores-and-causing-a-frenzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=3531","title":{"rendered":"Matthieu Blazy\u2019s First Chanel Collection Is in Stores \u2013 and Causing a Frenzy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blazy\u2019s debut collection has sparked a global rush.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"chanel<\/div>\n

A review from the Financial Times<\/em> described the opening look as something \u201creal women with busy lives might like to actually dress\u201d in, while Monocle <\/em>said it was \u201ca masterclass in tactile boucl\u00e9, finer-than-fine tweeds, artfully frayed hems, and supple leather\u201d. Flip through the February issue of Vogue<\/em> and you\u2019ll find a full Chanel look spread across it’s pages. After years of mixed reviews for Blazy\u2019s predecessor, Virginie Viard, the house can take comfort in knowing his debut has decisively won over the industry.<\/p>\n

Further proof came last week when the collection finally landed in stores. During Paris Fashion Week, podcaster Recho Omondi stopped by a Chanel boutique \u2013 only to find plenty of her industry peers already there. Clearly, she wasn\u2019t the only one hoping to secure a piece.<\/p>\n

See also: Chanel\u2019s New Direction \u2013 What\u2019s Different and Will It Work?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"chanel\"
\u00a9Chanel \/ David Bailey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Omondi documented the scene on TikTok<\/a>, asking fellow shoppers what they were hoping to buy \u2013 and what they had managed to get their hands on. Lynette Nylander, Executive Digital Director of Harper\u2019s Bazaar US<\/em>, summed up the mood: \u201cThis is The Hunger Games<\/em> of accessories buying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowing that Paris would be the first city to receive the collection, influencer Ro Brahman was determined to leave Fashion Week with either a pair of shoes or a bag. Her first attempt at the Rue Cambon boutique came a day too early, after she mistakenly thought the launch was happening 24 hours sooner than it was.<\/p>\n

She returned the following day, only to discover that the bag she wanted wasn\u2019t available at that particular branch \u2013 and with shows to dash between, there was no time to try another store. Undeterred, Brahman made a third attempt, hoping it might finally result in some arm candy. Instead, she was told that her chosen colourway had already sold out across the city.<\/p>\n

\"chanel
\u00a9Spotlight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was excited to see the collection in real life for the first time, and nervous because I was so scared everything was going to be sold out,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalking around the Rue de Carbon location, you could hear accents from all over the world. Celebrities, stylists, VIP Chanel clients, and people buying their first item from Chanel \u2013 everyone was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also: The Royal Money Powering Balmain and Valentino\u2019s Runway Shows<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Blazy was one of fifteen designers to debut their first collections for their respective fashion houses during the spring\/summer 2026 shows. The latest round of creative-director musical chairs has been widely linked to the slowdown in luxury sales. According to Business of Fashion<\/em><\/a>, an estimated 35 per cent of aspirational luxury customers pulled back on or delayed purchases between 2023 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Chanel has had little reason to worry. Under Viard, the brand continued to grow financially year after year, with reports suggesting sales doubled during her tenure. If Chanel customers were consistently buying into her vision, the question now is whether a shift in creative direction might risk unsettling a loyal clientele.<\/p>\n

\"chanel
\u00a9Spotlight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe heritage Chanel client may not engage in this new era in the same way the press does, but I think she\u2019ll appreciate the different ways the collection invites her to wear the brand,\u201d says Brahman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Antonio Padilla, the man behind fashion Instagram @immaculate.style<\/a>, resistance isn\u2019t necessarily reflective of Blazy\u2019s work. \u201cThere are going to be some customers that may refuse to buy anything new because they were so devoted to Karl Lagerfeld, which is okay,\u201d he says. \u201cThat happens all the time when a new designer is brought into one of these large fashion houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChanel has such a strong, historic identity, but Blazy has found a way to expand who the brand speaks to,\u201d continues Brahman. \u201cIt feels like more people can imagine themselves as a \u2018Chanel girl\u2019 in this new era. The clothes still carry all the classic Chanel codes, but they feel more wearable, playful, and energetic.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also: How Blazy & Anderson Turned Paris Haute Couture SS26 Into a Fantasy-Filled Dreamscape<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"chanel
\u00a9Spotlight<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She notes that it\u2019s already captured the attention of another demographic. \u201cHistorically, men haven\u2019t participated in Chanel\u2019s accessories culture the way they do at brands like Bottega,\u201d she says. \u201cBut now you\u2019re seeing the Pedro Pascals and Jacob Elordis of the world step into this new idea of the \u2018Chanel man.\u2019\u201d Indeed, Harry Styles was spotted just last week with the accessory from look 44 of Matthieu Blazy\u2019s Chanel Metiers d\u2019art show.<\/p>\n

The collection launched in the US on March 13 to similarly enthusiastic shoppers. Still, it will be a few weeks before Chanel has the data to gauge just how successful that first collection has been. \u201cThe US is still the biggest market for Chanel, so it\u2019s important for the success of the business that Chanel does well here in the states,\u201d says Padilla. \u201cAs more younger people are getting into fashion, now that it\u2019s so accessible on social media, I think people will want to be part of this Blazy era in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Brahman\u2019s convinced that customers will be leaving the store as content as she was, despite not even buying a piece. \u201cWhen I look at the clothes, the shoes, the bags, the jewelry, there\u2019s something about them that genuinely makes me smile. The collection just feels happy.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blazy\u2019s debut collection has sparked a global rush.\u00a0 A review from the Financial Times described the opening look as something \u201creal women with busy lives might like to actually dress\u201d in, while Monocle said it was \u201ca masterclass in tactile boucl\u00e9, finer-than-fine tweeds, artfully frayed hems, and supple leather\u201d. Flip through the February issue of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}