If there is one city you can count on to inspire, it’s the Big Apple. And just as its founder once journeyed there to uncover a wealth of creativity, Chanel now returns to celebrate this storied connection. Descending into New York’s underworld—quite literally—for its 2026 Métiers d’Art collection, Matthieu Blazy staged the show on an abandoned subway platform, transforming the city’s most democratic space into a runway of high craft and high character. For Blazy, the newly installed Artistic Director, fresh off his triumphant Spring/Summer 2026 debut, the choice of venue was more than theatrical.
“The New York subway belongs to all. Everyone uses it: there are students and gamechangers; statesmen and teenagers,” he said. “It is a place full of enigmatic yet wonderful encounters… Like in the movies, they are the heroes of their own stories.”
For this, Blazy leaned into that cinematic energy with a gleeful clash of archetypes. Pinstripes for power players, neon animal-print skirt suits for club kids, feathered gowns for showgirls, and coats with enough presence to stop downtown traffic. Chanel’s ode to New York unfolded as a celebration of the extraordinary hiding within the everyday—made possible by the extraordinary savoir-faire of the Maisons d’art.
The collection, which honours and spotlights artisans, roamed freely through decades and genres. There was a rewired Art Deco flapper dress with feathered fringes by Lemarié, “lingerie denim” embroidered into a new breed of western wear, and even lumberjack flannel reimagined in plush boucle tweed. Accessories carried their own sense of wonder, from minaudières shaped like oyster shells (complete with pearls) to enamelled apple trinkets and glass cabochon jewels. Even silk linings told stories—tiny tableaux of New York life, including Coco Chanel strolling against the skyline.
Characters materialised everywhere in a leopard-tweed cat lady (or cat woman), a polished urbanite with a gilded alligator–illusion flap bag, and a woman gliding by in a 1930s slip embroidered with shimmering fish by Atelier Montex. Through them, Blazy crafted a love letter between Paris and New York, penned through craftsmanship, humour, and a deep affection for the city that once helped Gabrielle Chanel rediscover her own creative spark.
Chanel 2026 Métiers d’Art
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.
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