Matthieu Blazy’s haute couture debut for Chanel receives standing ovation

Matthieu Blazy made his haute couture debut for Chanel at the Grand Palais, concluding the show with a standing ovation from an audience that included Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman and Dua Lipa. Blazy, a 41-year-old Belgian who was little known outside the industry until his appointment last year, presented his third collection for the house.

Chanel, whose designer lineage includes Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, has annual sales of almost $20bn (£14.6bn). The venue was transformed into a willow wood of sugar-pink trees and giant fairytale mushrooms; clients tossed sable coats to the ground and clustered for selfies, and the show’s approval ratings were described as “off the charts.” The collection opened with a boxy suit in tissue-thin mousseline so the chain that weights the hem glittered and moved.

Other details included a slip dress with ropes of gems for straps under a transparent jacket, a birdcage earring enclosing a tiny pearl, and a little black dress that revealed a racer back framed by crimson feathers. Trompe l’oeil touches continued from Blazy’s previous work, with denim that at close quarters revealed itself as painted mousseline and a raven-inspired dress with feathers crafted from leather.

Blazy said he wanted his first haute couture show to be “light and joyful” — “an adventure … I think the world is harsh” — and emphasised warmth through multigenerational, diverse casting.