Chanel with feet in the sand of Deauville for its Cruise 2027 show Matthieu Blazy revives Mademoiselle Chanel's seaside memory
For its upcoming Cruise 2027 show, the house of Chanel sets its sights on the Côte Fleurie, offering Matthieu Blazy the opportunity to write a new chapter on the very grounds where Gabrielle Chanel's destiny took a decisive turn. Following the Biarritz stopover of the previous season, the artistic director continues this pilgrimage through the double C's foundational towns, where the legend was forged in the texture of jersey.
A love story born of fashion
Deauville and Chanel share a century-old love story, intimately tied to the figure of Arthur "Boy" Capel. It was this English businessman, the designer's companion and muse, who encouraged her to bring her ambitions to life. After supporting her during the opening of her millinery salon at 21 rue Cambon in Paris in 1910, Boy Capel sensed the potential of the Normandy seaside resort. In the summer of 1913, he offered her an ideal showcase by renting a space nestled between the casino and the Hôtel Normandy. Under the sign "GABRIELLE CHANEL", the address instantly became the unmissable gathering spot for an aristocracy in search of modernity. It was here that Gabrielle revolutionized the female wardrobe by repurposing jersey -a knit previously reserved for men's underwear and sailors' workwear. By crafting fluid silhouettes, freed from the corset and inspired by the nautical realm, she radically redefined women's relationship with their bodies. Deauville's resounding success paved the way for the Biarritz adventure starting in 1915, where the couturière established her first true Couture House, employing up to three hundred seamstresses.
A town inseparable from the double C
Today, the founder's imprint remains vibrant in this Normandy seaside town. Although the brand no longer maintains a permanent boutique there, a commemorative plaque adorns the historic location on Rue Lucien-Barrière, immortalizing the profile of the Parisian hatter under Karl Lagerfeld's sketch. More recently, Virginie Viard paid a vibrant tribute to this alliance by recreating the legendary Planches de Deauville under the nave of the Grand Palais Éphémère for her Autumn/Winter 2024-2025 collection. The runway show, preceded by a short film featuring Penélope Cruz and Brad Pitt in a nod to the movie A Man and a Woman, also recalled the unbreakable bond uniting the house with cinema, notably through its official partnership with the Deauville American Film Festival since 2019.
A nautical wardrobe in prospect?
Facing the Normandy waves, Matthieu Blazy's vision is already sparking immense curiosity. Will he echo the silhouettes of March 2024, which featured dramatic picture hats adorned with brooches, camellias, and ribbons? One can legitimately wonder about a potential collaboration with Maison Michel -an artisan of the 19M -to shape monumental headpieces. The jersey sailor smock, a symbol of a wardrobe born from First World War fabric shortages, the marinière striped top, and resort leisurewear will undoubtedly be reinterpreted with the sense of movement and mastery of materials signature to the designer. Answers and confirmations will come next April 27th, when the models step onto the Deauville sand for Blazy's second Cruise collection.
