Float Like A Butterfly: Matthieu Blazy Makes Chanel’s Weighty Couture Legacy Feel Light As Air

Matthieu Blazy’s Spring/Summer 2026 Haute Couture collection for Chanel was a study in restraint and weighlessness. All photos: Su Shan

The Chanel woman has had quite the journey under Matthieu Blazy. For his womenswear debut last spring, he transported her to the cosmos on a set backlit by stars; he brought her hurtling back down to Earth in the New York subway at December’s Métiers d’Art presentation. She was given a few weeks to get her bearings, thankfully—because her latest adventure sees her embark on a woodland fantasy through toadstools and weeping willows.

Speculation was rife ahead of Blazy’s haute couture debut for Chanel during Paris Couture Week, especially following the vibrancy and whimsy of his Spring/Summer 2026 and Métiers d’Arts collections. Leopard printed tweed, multi-coloured fringed skirts—he was clearly willing to push the maison’s famed 31 Rue Cambon ateliers to their limit in service of his creative vision. But when the first look of the haute couture collection came floating down the runway, it became clear that Blazy’s approach to the medium would be rooted not in extravagance, but in extreme restraint.

Transparency and weighlessness were the defining elements of the collection. The silk mousseline skirt suit that opened the show was as light as air. “It appears almost as a memory of Chanel’s layered histories,” the collection notes read.

It was followed in quick succession by a series of equally delicate looks, their airiness belying the skill required to shape single-layered mousseline into crisp silhouettes. A vivid red ensemble, also in gauzy mousseline, added the first touch of vibrance into the mix, while intricately embroidered flora and fauna only served to exaggerate the delicacy of the material. Even the unadorned taupe sets were imbued with a sensuality thanks to the sheerness of the material.

As the show went on, the collection’s design vocabulary expanded, but never lost its original lightness. Black entered the palette, adding solidity through impeccably tailored coats and jackets. Feathers appeared, first as quiet details on cuffs and collars, then taking full bloom on scarves and dresses. “A metamorphosis occurs,” the collection notes stated whimsically. “The women at the centre of this collection begin to transform into birds.”

Avian metaphors aside, the collection was remarkably grounded in its approach to couture. By eschewing the theatrics commonly associated with couture runways, Blazy shone a spotlight onto the savoir-faire embedded in every stitch of the collection. This approach is not without its detractors—many argue that haute couture’s status as a laboratory of ideas rests on pushing the envelope and crafting something fantastical. But in giving us a collection as light as air, Blazy proves that threading the needle can be just as impressive as causing a scene.

Ahead, get a closer look at Matthieu Blazy’s Spring/Summer 2026 Haute Couture collection for Chanel.