Scarecrows and fairies take the runway at Chanel Couture 2027 Blazy's storytelling continues in a new world, now exploring the fairies realm

Deep inside Gabrielle Chanel’s library, the current creative director of the Maison Matthieu Blazy came across Les Fées, Contes des Contes (Fairies, Tales of Tales), which sparked a question in him: «Was Gabrielle Chanel’s life a fairytale?» he writes in the notes for Couture FW26. And again: is it possible to create clothes that combine magic and functionality? From these questions begins Chanel’s new narrative, a fairy tale made of little animals that become buttons, embroidered magic beans, and vines clinging to décolleté shoes as if they were growing from beneath the soles.

If for Cruise 2027 the journey imagined by Blazy for Chanel took place on the seabed of Biarritz, for Couture FW26 he takes us even further away, into a world that does not exist. The key word is escapism.

What particularly stood out about this collection was a certain sense of playfulness that had not been seen at Chanel since the era of Karl Lagerfeld. However, while the German designer made exaggeration his signature trait, with interactive sets and extravagant collections that had transformed playful fashion into a luxury for the first time, Blazy chooses to hold back. The show’s installation looks to the botanical world, with poisonous flowers climbing all the way to the ceiling; the designs contain witty details and almost wink at a sense of costume, as in the scarecrow look that reinterprets traditional Chanel bouclé as straw. The peak of humor appears in the accessories, with jewel handbags shaped like teddy bears and heels covered in floral details.

Despite this widespread sense of restraint, creativity is abundant, and it does not only concern the unusual shapes of minaudières and heels. The clothes, as the Maison repeatedly emphasizes while presenting the collection, respond to the needs of clients while finding their own form in a world of fantasy. Therefore, the suit is reinterpreted with frayed hems and fringes resembling blades of grass, while a delicate silk mousseline creates transparency, offering the possibility of layering shirts and cardigans during warmer seasons to give the look a delicate three-dimensionality, developed in pastel shades of lilac and turquoise.

This collection is further confirmation of the effectiveness of the creative trick that has made Blazy one of the most famous designers in the world: transforming every collection into a treasure hunt. First at Bottega Veneta with leather trompe-l’oeil creations and now at Chanel, the creative director forces people to get closer to a garment to discover its true shape, because he enjoys inserting surprising details into every piece, from the texture of a fabric that is not what it seems to the shape of a finishing detail that resembles something else. Spectators, editors, fans, clients, buyers, and the curious are encouraged not to stop at the images of a collection but rather to touch it with their own hands before delivering the final verdict.

Furthermore, this detail makes the garments even more intimate for the wearer, like the hand-painted silk linings of this collection, meant to be discovered privately. There are also surprises in terms of silhouette, such as the pockets, large and low-slung, which, beyond being a practical accessory, reshape dresses and jackets by lowering the waistline and widening the hips.

Like a storyteller from another time, Blazy took us for a handful of minutes into a magical world where feminine identity is an integral part of the nature it inhabits. Perhaps a wish for all Chanel women who queue outside the Maison’s stores to secure one of the pieces designed by the new creative director: to transform themselves through a look and embrace a more carefree and joyful approach to life, without abandoning that sense of practicality needed to navigate today’s world. «I created my life because my life did not please me», Gabrielle Chanel said. And that is what Blazy hopes his clients will do.