Each season during Fashion Week, there is always that one show, you know, the one you see all over social media and wish you had been at or the one you feel grateful you were invited to.
It is the moment when every single ingredient comes together and creates the perfect cake. There’s always one, and sometimes it’s a young brand creating FOMO, sometimes it’s a debut creating change, sometimes it’s just exquisite clothes.
This season, despite incredible shows from so many brands, including Sarah Burton at Givenchy and the work of Jonathan Anderson at Dior, it has to be said that Matthieu Blazy’s collection for Chanel was the most expected unexpected show we have seen.
In some ways, it continued the story of his first collection. The proportions were similar: midi length dresses, low-waist ‘flap’ girl styles, sleeveless silks. There were plenty of prints and plenty of fringes: Matthieu Blazy kind of owns the fringe business, from Bottega Veneta to Chanel, it’s almost like his ‘marque de fabrique’.
Midi length doesn’t always feel actual but because the shirts were slightly oversized and the jackets had generous sleeves, it never looked too ladylike not contrived.
You can feel a lot of ‘Coco’ Chanel in this collection: sportswear was reinterpreted in a more modern way, without changing the essence of it. It’s comfortable, without being casual or ugly.
The show’s first two looks were rib knit skirts and zip tops, almost like a little palette cleanser before the explosion of colour. That’s what stood out. Backstage (I wasn’t there but I did my homework), Matthieu Blazy spoke about iridescent, from a caterpillar to a butterfly, the transformation, the change of character from day to night. But, I also saw fairies and mermaids during that show, I saw women that were practical, and women that were dreaming.
Chanel has been associated for so long with black, white, and tweed and those foundations are slowly moving, and that’s a great thing. If this collection were a woman, I almost feel she would come from Milan.
There is a huge mention that has to go to the casting. In a moment when conversations around age and size inclusivity can feel complicated, Matthieu Blazy took the reins of the house and put forward a diverse group of women. They also seemed happy to be there? Like it wasn’t a job, but a chance. And that rarely if not ever happens on the runway shows.
To finish this off, there was the music. The reference to Billy Elliot, when the teacher asks him what it feels like when he dances and he answers “electricity.” Mixed with the fast paced soundtrack, it perfectly set the tone for a collection that felt exactly where it should be.
