There is a sense of reset around Chanel right now and today’s Cruise show made that clear. Staged with a focus on Biarritz, the collection pulled from the house’s early history while pushing toward something more relaxed and open. It felt intentional. It felt wearable.
In Matthieu Blazy’s first cruise outing for Chanel he took a steady hand with the idea of “Sous le salon la plage” setting the tone. The salon gives way to the beach. Structure meets ease and movement.
The front row reflected the weight of the moment with familiar Chanel ambassadors and friends of the house in attendance, including Margot Robbie, Michaela Coel, Tilda Swinton, Kristen Stewart, A$AP Rocky, and Lily-Rose Depp. A mix of old guard and new gene to match the collection’s balance between legacy and shift.
Blazy’s attention and obsession with craft comes through once again in the materials. Silk foulards are cut to move with the body. Raffia skirts carry a light texture without feeling precious. Tweeds are positively bouncy! Knits are soft but structured signalling the sheer amount of work that goes into these pieces, without ever feeling heavy or overly ornamented. These are once again clothes that function in motion.
The narrative for the show leans into Gabrielle Chanel’s time in Biarritz, where she first introduced jersey and sportswear as tools of freedom. That idea holds up in sailor stripes, in workwear references, and in the way tailoring is relaxed rather than strict. The hierarchy of dress codes is flattened and a bathing suit can sit next to a gown without a smidge of tension.
A black dress opens the show, pulled from the 1926 original. It still reads as direct without excess and nostalgia for its own sake. Blazy reframed it with small shifts, including muted red fan earrings, and an oversized bow that grazed the floor attached to a clutch.
Accessories follow the same logic. Bags range from compact travel pieces to raffia beach carryalls, some exceptionally massive in scale. Hats were modelled after swim caps fascinated at chin, some made with a straw knot at the top, some red and white striped, and others beaded and made to look like fish netting, or woven raffia with a wavy mohawk top. Equally covetable shoes moved between polished and undone with one pair only covering the heel strapped around the ankle with the foot bare at the front. Even the jewelry connected back to Biarritz, with references to Art Deco lines and the coastal themes.
A subtle reframing of the double C was also present showing up less as branding and more as structure within the garments and accessories. What stands out most about the collection is the clarity. It’s about movement, about wearing clothes in real conditions, and about letting the women define the look while respecting the archive without getting stuck in it.
Chanel has always been strongest when it makes things feel simple and inevitable. This Cruise show gets close to that again. Discover the full collection below.
