The fashion industry is waiting with baited breath to see what Chanel's new artistic director Matthieu Blazy will do atop one of luxury’s most famous brands. But with his debut not set to show until next season, guests gathered at the Grand Palais on the last day of Paris Fashion Week for one last Chanel studio-designed collection.
The house described the fall/winter 2025 line as "a theatre of dreamlike illusions"; fabrics and textures weren’t quite what they first seemed on first glance, with chiffon jeans and tweed-looking silks making you look twice.
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House signatures were exploded—the set itself a gigantic ribbon sculpture for models to weave through. Giant bows decorated knit dresses and crisp white shirts, while strings of pearls were blown up and turned into cross body bags. Other signature bags were either supersized or shrunken to dinky proportions.
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There was also a sense of delicate protection about the collection, with tulle overlays in the form of capes, shirts and skirts cocooning models, their classic Chanel boucle sets visible beneath. Other little black dresses were decorated with delicate white ribbon prints. Vinyl jackets and trousers, meanwhile, were embellished with ruffle details and finished with crystal-halo buttons.
It was a show full of contrasts, mischievously playing with Chanel house codes: a perfect final prequel before the storied brand's new chapter.
This article was first seen on ELLE UK.