Matthieu Blazy’s fifth catwalk show for Chanel took place on the Biarritz beachfront, where Gabrielle Chanel opened a couture house in 1915. The event was an irresistibly seductive love letter to the enduring allure of the double-C logo, showcasing the designer’s honeymoon period with the brand.
Biarritz Boutique Buzz
Before the show, sales assistants at the Biarritz boutique used Chanel beach towels to create extra changing rooms for shoppers eager to buy jeans priced at €3,100 (£2,690) a pair. Blazy’s jeans have become a totem of the new Chanel, marrying high taste with an inclusive, democratic point of view, though not in price.
Catwalk Highlights
In a casino ballroom overlooking surfers on the Bay of Biscay, Chanel skirt suits appeared in pink denim and tissue-fine silks worn over sporty tank tops. Models included women in their 50s and 60s, and six-months-pregnant model Kaya, who wore her suit jacket open over her bump and carried tiny two-tone shoes from Blazy.
Easy quarter-zip sweaters with Basque-striped skirts and huge double-C logos, described by Blazy as “the rock T-shirt” of Chanel, were featured. Oversized straw baskets and seahorse earrings nodded to Karl Lagerfeld’s pop spirit, but with a bold color palette distinguishing the new era from Lagerfeld’s sugary kitsch.
A turquoise gown of shimmering pailettes with a train like a mermaid’s tail was inspired by an art deco mural on the Biarritz lighthouse, showing two mermaids with tails entwined to form a Chanel-like double C.
Inspiration from Gabrielle Chanel
Biarritz was where Gabrielle Chanel watched swimmers, tanned herself, and wore French workwear, honing her taste for comfortable, practical clothes. Blazy’s show began with a little black dress, celebrating the centenary of the look Vogue dubbed “Chanel’s Ford” in 1926. “She borrowed the black dress from the workers, from the servant, from the shop girls,” Blazy said. “She decontextualised it and put it on the aristocracy, imposing her taste on them. It was a revenge on her own social status.”
A newspaper print suit with headlines about Chanel’s time in Biarritz nodded to her radical spirit. “There is a quote where she said: ‘I like to read the newspaper, like men.’ I thought that was really interesting,” said Blazy. “Also, I like the idea of being on the coast and having fish and chips!”
Strategic Vision
Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of fashion, praised Blazy’s research, saying it gives him freedom to twist and create the Chanel of today and tomorrow. Chanel has “tens of thousands” of very important clients (VICs) who spend over €100,000 annually in-store. “We have more VICs than any other brand, and they are super happy now. They come, they try – and they buy. So we don’t want crazy growth, we don’t need to go fast. Our objective is to be stronger in 20 years.”
Catwalk shows in exotic locations have become fashion’s most elite battleground. After Chanel’s Biarritz spectacular, Dior will show in Los Angeles, followed by Gucci and Louis Vuitton in New York, and MaxMara in Shanghai. These destination shows offer mind share and market share, extending prime-time slots for luxury brands to dominate social media. Chanel’s Biarritz takeover included a food market transformed into a cocktail party for guests like Nicole Kidman, Michaela Coel, and Tilda Swinton, and a screen in the Gare du Midi for residents to watch the show.
