For Spring/Summer 2027, Matthieu Blazy turns his attention to the many versions of Gabrielle Chanel, exploring the ways she continually reinvented herself. Titled La Conversation – Part Three: Different Faces of the Same Coin, the collection is less historical retrospective than a study in identity, transformation and the freedom to become someone new.
Blazy traces Chanel’s evolution from the restrictive corsetry and tailoring of her early years to the revolutionary ease of the wardrobe she eventually created. Jersey underwear sets the tone, while the house’s signature suiting returns as a second skin, worn close to the body. The collection moves between these two points in her story, suggesting a connection between the radical simplicity of Chanel’s beginnings and the refinement of her later work.
Tailoring is deconstructed and reimagined throughout. Raw-edged men’s formalwear becomes gilets and pencil-skirt suits, while masculine codes find new expression in bias-cut evening gowns, sequined silhouettes and knitted, beaded pieces designed to feel as effortless as a T-shirt. Elsewhere, sheer layers of printed silk billow like shifting clouds, capturing the passage from morning to golden hour to nightfall.
A tension between structure and softness runs through the collection. Traces of historical dress appear in shadow boning, peplums, ruffled collars and sculpted bodices, as though earlier identities remain beneath the surface. Fabrics move, silhouettes shift and familiar codes are loosened, reflecting Blazy’s vision of femininity as something fluid rather than prescribed.
The idea of freedom extended beyond the clothes and into the soundtrack. The show moved from Lesley Gore’s You Don’t Own Me into an energetic remix of Britney Spears’ Gimme More, an irreverent choice that perfectly captured Blazy’s refusal to make Chanel feel overly reverent. By the finale, the front row was visibly dancing, with Dua Lipa among those caught moving along to the Britney hit.
Birds, particularly swifts and swallows, become recurring symbols of that same freedom, appearing in buttons, jewellery and embroidery as well as throughout the set. The atelier’s textile development is equally important, with intricate woven and knitted fabrics giving the clothes a sense of lightness and movement. A new smocked tweed suit brings the collection full circle, combining the stretch and ease of underwear with the unmistakable language of Chanel tailoring.
Accessories continue the conversation between past and present, opening with model Dyanira Hurbuscher carrying Gabrielle Chanel’s own 2.55 bag from the house archives, a reference revisited at the finale. Alongside new interpretations of the classic flap bag, cloud-like designs evoke the passage of time, while a birdcage minaudière offers a playful gesture toward the collection’s central theme.
For Blazy, Chanel is ultimately a story of becoming. Each version of Gabrielle informed the next, leaving behind traces without being confined by them. Spring/Summer 2027 captures that spirit through clothes that honour the house’s history while continuing to move it forward. The final message is one of movement, self-expression and freedom, with a little Gimme More thrown in for good measure.
Discover the collection below.
