fter months of speculation it was announced on 12th December that French-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy is to become Chanel’s new artistic director. Succeeding Karl Lagerfeld (who was Chanel’s creative director for 36 years) and Virginie Viard, Blazy leaves behind a successful stint at Kering’s Italian brand Bottega Veneta, joining the French Couture giant from April 2025.
What to expect?
- New brand ambassadors = custom outfits (Met Gala’s & red carpets)
- Ushering of the 2020’s Chanel Woman
- Pushing the boundaries of what Chanel is in the modern era
- More handbags! (Think a remodelled 2.55 bag)
- Leather 101 (Lessons in leather)
Blazy faced stiff competition for the Chanel role, names that were rumoured to be on the shortlist included the likes of Phoebe Philo, Jeremy Scott, Grace Wales Bonner, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs and Jacquemus. Jeremy Scott’s final show for Moschino in Milan for Fall 2023 was an ode to 90’s Chanel.
One of the perceived front runners for the Chanel role was the highly acclaimed Hedi Slimane, whose last collection for CELINE was also heavily Chanel coded (he left his long term role as artistic director in October). Slimane was highly favoured by the late Karl Lagerfeld, in 2004 Karl famously published a book detailing the diet he was on in order to fit into Slimane’s clothes.
Despite this relationship, earlier this year Chanel’s president of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky threw cold water on the rumours stating earlier this year, the house prefers not to appoint directors who replicate their vision from one brand to another. Further commenting on the interview process, he said “what is essential for Chanel is the brand before the personality”.
“I won’t name names, but some people have shown they can move from brand to brand and their style remains fairly identical, and the brand has to adapt,”.
“You can’t have one person doing everything. It’s the product of a strong and experienced collective working in tandem with a person who sets the tone with a collection or a show,” Bruno insisted.
Matthieu Blazy’s appointment is still somewhat of a contentious one, as it’s another case of a caucasian man taking the helm of a fashion house whose business model is structured around designing clothes and accessories for women, despite Louise Trotter replacing him at a well performing Bottega.
Regardless, both designers have their work cut out for them. Bottega Veneta had revenues of €1.6 billion in 2023 compared to Chanel’s $19.7 billion. Chanel is the bigger company, so large in fact it sits as the second largest behind Louis Vuitton, ending 2023 with over 35,000 employees.
Having said that, Blazy is not your average fashion designer, he has a distinguished career, interning under Nicolas Ghesquière at Balenciaga, working closely with John Galliano for Margiela as head designer for the artisanal couture line.
Blazy was Phoebe Philo’s protege during her tenure at Céline and even worked for Raf Simons after his graduate collection and again for Raf whilst he was at Calvin Klein. He has also mentored Marine Serre, who in 2017 won the coveted LVMH award. He has shown he is capable of producing successful handbags at Bottega Veneta, his coveted bags include the Kalimero, Andiamo and Sardine.
In Bottega’s autumn/winter 2022 collection Blazy debuted his new take on intrecciato weave bags. The Sardine has been favoured by celebrities such as A$AP Rocky, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Kendall Jenner.
Challenges
Concerns that consumers have with Chanel revolve around increasing prices and quality issues including fading hardware, glue stains on straps, pressure marks on leather, and the chains on Chanel heart bags breaking. Chanel used to use 24K gold to plate hardware, but this practice has since been discontinued since 2008.
The old hardware was resistant to fading and could be polished without losing much colour, the metal hardware used now is prone to fading and as a result, their vintage bags are even more sought after.
As Chanel increasingly pivots away from LV, consumers are becoming increasingly critical of the house, as Hermes is seen to have maintained exclusivity through quality craftsmanship and other brands are more innovative with their bag designs.
Matthieu Blazy has 2 years to adjust to his new role and rigorous schedule.
Key takeaways:
- His non-compete likely expires in April and his contract with Chanel is a renewable one like Karl had
- Blazy’s first show will be in October 2025, with the responsibility of producing 10 collections per year
- Blazy will be responsible for all haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections, not including fragrance and cosmetics, or jewellery and watches.