So, finally, the big one – fashion’s most anticipated debut at the richest fashion house in history – Matthieu Blazy’s opening show for Chanel, a bold, gutsy, ingenious, often beautiful and oddly risqué collection that was an undoubted hit.

The omens felt right as soon as one entered the Grand Palais, where Blazy had built a truly magnificent set. Like the great planets in the solar system; giant fabric balls with interior illumination, the sun 15-meters in diameter. The catwalk a lacquered lunar landscape suggesting molten rock and lava. 
 
So epic was the staging, the 2,800 guests were encouraged to come an hour early to admire the space. The new universe of Chanel, before which the show began, unveiling a beguiling and intriguing collection.

Matthieu opened with suits, of course, but pants suits in gray flannel, in a quirky surprise, culled from pants that Coco borrowed from her great love, Boy Capel. Cut with mannish pants and officers’ mess jackets, they set the scene for a brave, often experimental display by Blazy.

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He sent out dozens of Chanel suits or split suits. Many with a new wrap skirt made with pockets and cut at the knee and left frayed generally. Made in both classic and unexpected materials: lighter semi-sheer bouclé wool, airy plaids, windowpane checks or stiff denim, while the famed four-pocket jackets were all finished with filigrees of gold or contrasting trim.
 
Surprisingly, he showed multiple skirts slung so low, underwear peaked up two inches. It seems unlikely that many of the well-heeled VICs in the audience will actually wear that idea, but its chutzpah was very appealing.
 
Blazy played artfully with many codes, like conceptual double-sized camellia brooches or Coco’s love of pearls, though used in densely woven necklaces. And referenced Mademoiselle’s obsession with wheat by embroidering a golden sheaf into an organza top. 
 
Even the little black dress, which Coco is credited with inventing, got a smart makeover – either finished with golden strings or ruched radically with side knots.
 

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For evening, Matthieu went into overdrive: dense fabric flowers and petals used in flamenco skirts, even if some of which flapped alarmingly. While the lacquered surface alarmed some models, with one taking a shoe off right in front of a movie star posse in the front row – Tilda Swinton, Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz, chatting animatedly beside a silent Kendall Jenner.
 
All presented to a massive mash-up of music created jointly by Chanel’s long-time DJ Michel Gaubert and Belgian sound architect Le Motel. It included Isao Tomita’s electronic track “Venus, the Bringer of Peace”, The Corrs plaintiff hit “Runway” and spoken snippets from TV series “Dawson’s Creek”.
 
At the finale, the collection won Blazy a prolonged standing ovation, ignited when the Ethiopian-Canadian Awar Odhiang in the final look began clapping and beseeching the audience to rise.

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“Chanel is about love. The birth of modernity in fashion comes from a love story. This is what I find most beautiful. It has no time or space; this is an idea of freedom. The freedom worn and won by Gabrielle Chanel,” said Blazy.
 
Ironically, in a set that imitated the vacuum of outer space, the collection felt like a huge blast of fresh air into the lungs of the house of Chanel.

All told, very much a home-run hit show and pathbreaking collection that will be highly influential. And, one has to say, the most successful of the 15 designer debuts at important fashion houses in this unique series of fashion week.
 
One needs to recall, that the Franco-Belgian designer was an under-the-radar candidate for the biggest creative job in fashion. But after garnering rave reviews consistently in a three-year tenure at Italian luxury label Bottega Veneta, he nabbed the position. It is a major step-up in size. From a mid-sized provincial Italian house to Chanel — the world’s largest luxury fashion label with annual sales of around $20 billion.

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Chanel’s uber-discreet family owners, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer, clearly would like another long low-term career for Blazy at the house.

He is only the fourth creative director in the brand’s storied history. Coco Chanel founded the brand in 1910 and led it until 1973 when she died in the Ritz; Karl Lagerfeld who ruled supreme from 1983 until his death in 2019. Virginie Viard – Karl’s key assistant, by contrast, only lasted five years until June 2024.
 
In an uber busy week, on the day of the show, the brand also announced two new ambassadors: Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and rising star Ayo Edebiri, the award-winning American actor, director, and screenwriter, known for her standout roles in hit series “The Bear”.
 
Kidman wore a white oversized shirt – Boy Capel-style – and duck-egg blue pants to the show, attending it with her daughters.
 

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“From the unforgettable Baz Luhrmann film to her countless red carpet looks, Nicole has always been part of the history of the house. Free and ever-changing, she is for me the embodiment of the Chanel woman,” said Blazy. 
 
Edebiri recently wore Blazy creations from Chanel at the Venice Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.
 
“Ayo is all strength, but at the same time, she is vulnerable enough to always put herself out there. She writes, she acts, she directs… Nothing can stop her,” insisted Blazy.
 
While tourists in Paris could not help noticing this week’s new giant billboard in front of the Paris Opera: a beautiful Chanel high jewelry necklace from its No. 5 collection.  
 
Suddenly, the Chanel dream seems very alive and well again.