Coco Chanel once gave us one fashion lesson

Coco Chanel believed that a woman should live two lives a day: a caterpillar by day, a butterfly by night. Yesterday, Matthieu Blazy presented his second prêt-à-porter collection for CHANEL. In October, the new creative director debuted with his first collection (which was in the New York subway, remember?), in December he continued with the Métiers d’arts collection (that is the annual show where CHANEL celebrates the craftsmanship of couture) and in January with the couture collection. Now, at the end of a vibrant fashion month, he was allowed to dance again for a Grand Palais full of fame and wealth.

For a new designer of a longer-established fashion house, it is always a great balancing act to move between the traditions and heritage of a house while simultaneously bringing in the renewal that is needed. If Coco Chanel had lived now, she would have implemented changes as well. After all, standing still is regression.

For this fall/winter collection, Matthieu Blazy was inspired by Coco Chanel's saying: ”Be a caterpillar by day and a butterfly by night.’ A person, and a woman in particular, embodies multiple roles and therefore needs multiple types of clothing. Or, as Coco Chanel said back then, ”A butterfly does not go to the market during the day and a caterpillar does not go to the ball at night.“ In short, we need dresses to crawl into and dresses to fly with. Matthieu Blazy gave us both and everything in between.

Where we used to all dive into a trend, in 2026 we are still open to movements, but because we celebrate our individuality so much, fashion also calls for an individual interpretation. So Matthieu Blazy showed us the traditional suit, but combined it with an oversized shirt (which he develops together with the house Charvet) that casually comes out from under the jacket. Styling and layering was a theme for Blazy. We saw long dresses combined with an oversized sweater. His extremely low waist was innovative. For many dresses, the waist was at the hips, reminiscent of the flapper dresses from the twenties, but for some looks, the belt was even positioned below the buttocks and on the upper thighs.

To also give the butterfly space, Blazy created the most diverse dresses ‘to fly in’ and to dance in. He did this to Lady Gaga's Just Dance and to the music of Billy Elliot and embraced the uniqueness of each model by giving everyone their own design. What stood out was the comfort that the looks exuded. Everything was loose-fitting, following the body. Because whether you are in your caterpillar or butterfly role, we want to move, we want to go forward, we want to rise.

Or as Coco Chanel and Matthieu Blazy preach: Simplicity and freedom.

Amen.