Chanel Haute Couture in Bloom

An oversized garden in the Grand Palais. Giant flowers towering above the models. Created with interior designer Martin Brûlé, the scenery sets the tone for Matthieu Blazy’s second haute couture collection for Chanel. Nature grows out of proportion.

Scenography: Martin Brûlé with Chanel and Matthieu Blazy. Set design: Bureau Betak

The collection was inspired by a leather-bound book of fairy tales from Gabrielle Chanel’s own library. The fairy-tale world continues in the clothes. Flowers appear in embroidery, intricate surfaces and three-dimensional forms throughout the collection. Blazy works with Chanel’s familiar codes. Tweed is reconsidered through lighter, more transparent constructions, giving a house classic a youthful, modern character. The suit changes too. A blazer, longer gilet and shorts form a new three-piece, playing with the proportions of traditional tailoring.

Chanel Haute Couture

Blazy studied at La Cambre in Brussels, whose fashion alumni include Anthony Vaccarello, Olivier Theyskens and Marie Adam-Leenaerdt. There is continuity in the casting too, with women from Blazy’s first Chanel haute couture show returning for his second.

Chanel Haute Couture

At Chanel, his ideas meet the extraordinary skills of the house’s petites mains. Embroidery, guipure lace, organza, metalwork and tiny details hidden inside garments reveal the hours of work behind haute couture. Fantasy begins with an idea. The ateliers give it form.

Photography courtesy of Chanel