Chanel Spring Summer 2026 Show Report: Matthieu Blazy’s Debut & Poetic Brand Reset

The house of Chanel turned a new page today. In his first seasonal runway show, Matthieu Blazy delivered a debut that felt neither timid nor perfunctory—it felt like the house has finally inhaled again. Amid refined tweeds, whisper-light gowns, and reimagined classic flaps, Blazy enacted what insiders are calling Chanel’s “third act.” But what does this mean for collectors, buyers, and resale markets? At The Luxe Loop, we watched every detail. Here’s everything you need to know about the show, and what you should watch for in coming months.

The Stakes of a Debut—Chanel’s Third Act

Blazy stepped into Chanel at a pivotal moment: one in which he could either inherit the past, or reinvent it. From the start, the message was clear. He framed this show as if it might be the last, stating that he did not intend to play it safe. “Either we do a clean, by-the-codes show, or we do a show as if it was our last. Then we start again,” Blazy shared in an exclusive sitdown with Business of Fashion's Tim Blanks. Chanel’s leadership has echoed that framing, referring to former Chanel Creative Directors Chanel herself as Act One, Karl Lagerfeld as Act Two, and Virginie Viard’s tenure an “intermission,” and Blazy’s era as the new Act Three.

What matters for luxury lovers is that this is not a quiet handover— it’s been a full reset. Each silhouette, fabric, and accessory feels calibrated to launch a new luxury narrative. And for those of you in luxury resale market, that narrative shift can create opportunity: new icons to covet, new scarcity to anticipate, and new storytelling around classic pieces.

Fabric Reawakening: Tweed, Textures & Material Innovation

One of the clearest signals that Blazy intended to reanimate Chanel’s tactile soul was the evolution of classic Chanel materials. The tweeds weren’t the dense, heavily bouclé fabrics of Chanel archives. These tweeds were lighter, more expressive, and more tailored. Structured but breathable. They felt like something you'd find in an upscale British tailoring shop.

Blazy has spoken about developing new yarns, lighter gabardines, and textures with purpose in mind. That ambition shows: the tweed jackets and skirts have movement and elegance. They felt less “granny-chic,” and instead like more poised heritage pieces that would surely be passed down over generations.

Yet more dramatic was the appearance (and texture) of accessories and handbags. Among the runway shots, we spotted pieces that looked exotic: scaled motifs, reptilian illusions, and surfaces that read like ostrich or croc. Given Chanel’s well-known 2018 public ban on exotic skins, these pieces are most likely comprised of regular leathers with masterful embossing, laser engraving, or novel finishes—not literal reptile hides. (We’re tracking the official fabrics credits and boutique releases to see exactly what these are in 3D.)

Bags Reimagined: Straps, Proportions & Revival Codes

If there’s a soft-goods code shift in this collection, it centers on liberation. The streamlining of hardware, the play with straps (especially solid leather in place of classic Chanel chains), raw edges on garments, and revisiting archival styles like executive totes hint at a broader strategy: reinterpret the archive, not replicate it.

A few standout signals:

• Solid leather straps vs chains: a tonal shift in how a Chanel bag lives against the body.

• Oversized XXL suede classic flaps: amplifying the recently-popular gargantuan silhouette while softening the structure and making it more relevant for today's styling.

• Revival of executive Cerf tote bags:  it's to be seen if these were literal re-editions of the popular bag of the past, or tweaked revisions to bring them up to today's fashion code. 

• Playful artifacts: dramatic, one-of-a-kind shapes (bowling balls, eggs, birds, etc) that are less about mass market retail earnings, and more about narrative signaling.

• Mature color story: it seems like Blazy has steered away from Viard's emphatically-satured color palette, at least for now. Many pieces were crafted in neutral colors like ivory, tan, and burgundy, with small pops of yellow and orange.

We’ll see which variants make it to boutique floors. Those that do—particularly refined reinterpretations of icons—will certainly become popular on the resale market, too.

Drama, Disruption & the Poetry of Ambiguity

Not every moment was smooth. But maybe that was part of the show's design. Blazy has talked about embracing raw edges, layered ambiguity, and resisting “overly clear messages.”⁶ In that light, the oddball moments feel more rugged punctuation than error. Here are some standouts moments that really grabbed our attention.

• Bent or crumpled flap bags read more confrontational than clever. Visual disruption, yes. Practical or desirable, to be determined.

• Ornate feathers appear numerous times—many feather pieces were lush,  attention-grabbing, and clearly expert-crafted. But many of these were likely just show pieces, instead of soon-to-be boutique sellers.

• Shoes drifted toward avant-garde hoof references, feeling stab-like and Tabi-adjacent (and not too unlike some past Bottega styles that came out during Blazy's tenure there). These styles push editorial boundaries while leaving consumer adoption in question. Is the Chanel girl as quirky as the Margiela girl?

• Feminine gown moments rose above: a few sheer, bias-cut, body-clinging V-neck gowns felt unexpectedly sensual and a departure from Chanel's typically more boxy silhouettes. An all-white satin piece was so gentle and demure that it felt as if it were floating down the runway. These are showpieces that signal new dressmaking intent.

• A model wearing only one shoe (and carrying the other during her hand) walked during the show. Sometimes a spectacle like this is intentional, but other times its a wardrobe malfunction. No word yet from Chanel about this.

What to Watch in the Near Term (For TLL & Resale)

1. Which bags make it to boutique: especially variants with leather straps, new materials, or reinterpreted proportions.

2. Executive cerf totes: this vintage style will likely increase in resale price in the coming months before this line hits Chanel boutiques, so snag one now before that happens.
   
   

3. Official lookbook / press credits: we’ll dissect material credits (e.g. “embossed calfskin,” “laser-engraved leather”) to validate exotic texture speculation.

4. CITES / exotic skin disclosures: if true exotic skins start showing up, there will likely be media notice along with corresponding documentation in boutique pieces when sold.

5. Resale behavior of debut models: which of Blazy's new silhouettes will create buzz, scarcity, or warrant a collector's premium.

6. Style adoption: how stylists, editors, and street photographers interpret these new codes could influence which looks become aspirational.

Final Thoughts — The House of Chanel is Breathing Again

Matthieu Blazy’s debut was not just a passing moment—it was an invitation. An invitation for the house to evolve its codes, for clients to stretch into newer shapes, and for its classic legacy staples to be reinterpreted in fresh light.

At TLL, we’re watching closely. The code resets, the material innovations, the bag evolutions—these are the moments that shape what becomes coveted, what commands value, and what defines what “modern Chanel” means in secondary markets.

“We don’t want to live in a world of clear messages,” Blazy has said. It’s in that poetic tension between tradition and innovation, between wardrobe and runway, that we believe Chanel’s next chapter begins.