“This is not a historical collection; it’s a collection about Gabrielle Chanel’s layered stories,” said Matthieu Blazy. “Ultimately, Chanel took off, and each step she took led to her being free, like a bird.”

A flock of birds passing through the Grand Palais, hopeful, optimistic. The the clients all decked out in Chanel, proof enough that Matthieu Blazy has already taken flight. The resin floor like the abstract geography of a bird’s eye view a swirling green and sand shade. And that was just set.

The collection was titled ‘La Conversation - part three - different faces of the same coin’, and was an exploration into transformation in fashion, and transmitting from the past to the present and into the future. Blazy wanted to “honour multiple selves in his ongoing conversation with Gabrielle Chanel,” referencing the beginning of her journey to her later years.

With just over 80 looks, each one was thoughtful, layered and resolved - and empowering. The Chanel woman undeniably exudes a confidence that Blazy has injected into his designs. The lightness of ‘cloud formation’ gowns that trailed behind them, ultra-weightless sequinned and knitted gowns, and the weft of the softest new ‘smocked’ tweed, subtle and purring. It all embodied the three words Blazy had been thinking about: freedom, movement and self-expression.

With A-ha’s Take On Me on blast, and then a finale to Britney Spears’ booming Gimme More, it was a great next chapter in Blazy’s ever-evolving, blazing Chanel.

chanel.com