Is it fair to call the Chanel Spring 2026 collection a reset? Its new creative director might not say so. "I think when you’re at Chanel, you don’t need to twist everything," Matthieu Blazy told Business of Fashion in an interview before his debut runway on October 6.
And yet, the vision presented across the 70-plus looks felt like a definite remix of the Chanel codes—quilted leather bags, camellia flowers, tweed matching sets—women have known and loved for decades. The shoes and accessories, a major part of the house's business and its legacy, were possibly the most transformed. Don't worry—you'll still want to refinance your apartment in service of these flap bags and cap-toe heels.
A look from the Spring 2026 Chanel collection.
A close-up of cap-toe shoes from the Chanel collection.
Take the Chanel two-tone ballet flat for example. It's been a fixture for decades, looking prim and proper in shades of camel and black or silver and navy. Blazy's Chanel collection kept color-block, but elongated the shape of the toe box so the shoe looked like less of a classic ballet flat or pump. Additional pumps harmonized with the classic Chanel palette by introducing a chocolate brown alligator skin, with stripes of white leather bisecting the upper. Same high-contrast framework; different execution.
The bags, too, didn't stray miles from Chanel's DNA. But someone obviously had fun behind-the-scenes selecting cuddly faux fur for a jumbo, striped flap bag. Ditto for a flap that had textured floral embellishments, and clutches whose clasp was reshaped to match the double-C Chanel logo. Even the quilted bags that closely resembled past collections were carried by one strap, hanging open: When the style was familiar, the energy was relaxed and playful. This Chanel girl just wants to have fun.
Familiar Chanel icons, like the flap bag, were supersized and coated in what appeared to be faux fur.
Clutches with a 3-D clasp shaped like Chanel's double-C logo also emerged.
Blazy referred to his overall approach as evoking "something quite universal, like a dream." He might have been referring to the solar system replica Chanel erected in the show space. Firmly back on Earth, some reimagined Chanel accessories could definitely feel like an apparition from another planet. Feathered hats gently stirred up a breeze on the models' heads, whimsically placed next to sequin dresses and flower-embellished tops. In their hands, they gripped chain-link bags and clutches, made new by their pairing with out-of-this-world headgear. Then came the brooches earning several shout-outs in the official Marie Claire live-blog: blooming flowers with thin tendrils that swayed more like sea anemone.
Several Chanel models wore feathered hats.
The texture was presented in contrast to long-sleeve dresses laced with sparkle.
Oversize floral brooches accompanied several of the tweedy plaid jackets.
No, Blazy didn't need to twist everything in his Chanel debut. But he tweaked the formula just enough for so-called hero pieces to feel like they were also making a first-time runway debut.
