The Chanel Fall/Winter 2026–2027 Haute Couture collection was a truly triumphant fairytale of Paris Haute Couture Week. This marks the second couture collection by Franco-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy as the creative director of the fashion house.
Blazy, who took the helm at Chanel in 2025, presented a collection under the intriguing title "Gaby and the Beanstalk," transforming the Grand Palais into an enchanted, mystical garden filled with giant, intertwining green vines.
The primary creative impulse for the collection came during Matthieu Blazy’s visit to Gabrielle Chanel’s personal library on Rue Cambon. There, the designer came across an antique copy of Charles Perrault's book of French fairytales, Les Fées ("The Fairies").
Blazy decided to intertwine Chanel's DNA with the naive, yet sometimes dark world of children's stories—ranging from Jack and the Beanstalk to Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. The central theme of the show opened with a quote by Coco Chanel herself: "My life didn't please me, so I created my life." The designer explored haute couture as a tool for escapism—an opportunity to flee from harsh reality into a fantasy created by one's own hands.
Matthieu Blazy is an acknowledged master of optical illusions (trompe-l'œil) and extraordinary textures. In this couture collection, he surpassed himself, pushing the atelier's artisans to the absolute limits of their capabilities:
The show opened with a model sporting a short, Coco-style bob. She wore a classic two-piece suit that looked exactly like traditional wool tweed, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be entirely, millimeter by millimeter, embroidered with microscopic glass bugles and beads in red and purple.
Three straw couture looks were crafted from frayed raffia, referencing the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. A dress made of translucent mesh resembled the scales of the Little Mermaid, while a stark white suit with subtle black tulle feathers told the story of the Ugly Duckling transforming into a swan.
Tweed jackets and flowing silk skirts were belted and decorated with cascading gold chains, pearls, and crystals. They looked as though the models had frantically scooped them out of an antique jewelry box in a rush.
Blazy aimed to prove that Chanel haute couture is not just a "frozen museum fairytale," but clothing intended for the real lives and everyday adventures of modern women.
He consciously stripped away excessive pomposity. Alongside magnificent floral embroideries, the runway featured flawlessly tailored sleek coats, understated red sheath dresses made of sequins, and ensembles consisting of black tunics paired with trousers.
Defying a decades-long haute couture tradition, Blazy refused to close the show with a couture bride. Instead, the finale featured a minimal, pristine Little Black Dress (LBD). This was an ode to Gabrielle Chanel herself—a woman who never married, but found her absolute happiness and immortality in the freedom of creation.
Matthieu Blazy, who gained global acclaim for his phenomenal, intellectual work at Bottega Veneta, seamlessly transferred his finest attributes to the tracks of Chanel:
His ability to blend pastel shades (lavender, soft pink, light blue) with unexpected, vivid accents—like a rich burgundy collar peeking out from under a beige coat—creates a deeply artistic visual narrative.
Blazy created a collection that begs to be examined under a magnifying glass. Examples include metallic minaudière bags shaped like sleeping bears, hens, and multicolored beans, as well as footwear where heels were sculpted into pearl pea pods, butterflies, golden eggs, and even tiny figurines of Jack climbing the beanstalk.
Blazy makes garments "live." He dropped the waistlines in the spirit of the 1920s garçonne aesthetic, removed restrictive structuring, and gifted the couture pieces plasticity, lightness, and a youthful, fresh optimism. In his Chanel, a woman can breathe, move, and feel entirely confident.
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At the press cocktail after the show at the Grand Palais, Matthieu Blazy spoke in detail about why he decided to reread children's fairytales, why he abandoned the final bridal gown, and how couture helps us cope with reality.
On Fairytales, Escapism, and Coco Chanel’s Personal Library
"It all started when I was flipping through books in Gabrielle’s apartment on Rue Cambon. Coming across an antique collection of Perrault's fairytales, I thought: after all, her entire life is an incredible, at times very harsh, fairytale. She created her world from scratch simply because the reality around her didn't please her.
Today, when the world around us is in turmoil, haute couture must become our safe harbor and an act of legitimate escapism. Fairytales are not just children's stories; they are metaphors for transformation. We take raw straw or a simple thread and, through the power of the atelier's artisans, turn it into gold. That is the magic of Chanel."
On "Beaded Tweed" and the Trompe-l'œil Technique
Blazy explained why he had the atelier artisans recreate the classic wool texture from millions of glass beads:
"I like the idea of 'quiet radicalism.' When you look at a garment from a distance, you see a traditional, instantly recognizable Chanel tweed suit. You think, 'Oh, that's a classic.' But as the model walks closer, the fabric begins to refract light, and you realize there isn't a single gram of wool on her—it is a solid canvas of microscopic beads. It forces the viewer to slow down, look closer, and question what their eyes are seeing. Couture shouldn't be obvious."
On Breaking Tradition: Why the Show Closed with a Little Black Dress Instead of a Bride
The designer commented on his decision to ditch the traditional final look of a couture bride:
"For me, Chanel is first and foremost a manifesto of female freedom. Gabrielle was never married; her main love and her armor was her work, her independence. When we were thinking about the finale, I realized that in the context of a fairytale theme, a wedding would look like a cliché happy ending in the spirit of 'and they lived happily ever after.' The true happy ending for a Chanel woman is her self-sufficiency. The Little Black Dress in the finale is an ode to absolute freedom. It is the most powerful antidote to any life adversity that Gabrielle gifted to the world."
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On Irony and Heels Shaped Like Pea Pods
Blazy shared his thoughts on the collection's playful details (bean bags and caterpillar-like heels):
"High fashion too often takes itself way too seriously. It becomes stifling. I wanted to let a bit of youthful mischief into the Grand Palais. Yes, these dresses require thousands of hours of handwork, but why not put a model in shoes where the heel is a pearl pea pod with a tiny Jack climbing up it? Fashion should bring a smile and awaken that pure, childhood wonder we felt when we first opened a pop-up book."
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