Cut Above: Decoding the Debut of Matthieu Blazy at Chanel

Marina 2Jour
7 hours ago
2 min read

I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and access to fashion — something I’ve always been naturally drawn to out of my love for beauty — came gradually, as my career evolved.

I’ve always had a knack for finding diamonds in the mass market, aka fast fashion, which is flooded with something new every two weeks. A transitional brand that I still love to this day is Massimo Dutti.

However, there’s a nuance that, despite all the technical progress and the launch of higher-quality lines, mass and even mid-market brands still struggle to achieve: the cut. It’s precisely the cut — combined with better materials — that creates that elusive feeling of luxury, as it requires more meticulous attention to detail and significantly more labor hours.

Much has already been said about the Chanel collection. The show closed Paris Fashion Week, and according to the laws of communication, we tend to remember the first and the last. The audience, somewhat fatigued after numerous debuts, had already been charmed (or disappointed). What we would see on Chanel’s runway remained a mystery until the very end. Unlike Dior, whose looks had been half-spoiled by endless red carpet appearances, Chanel maintained eloquent silence.

Just in time for the show, interviews with Bruno Pavlovsky and Matthieu Blazy were released (I haven’t read them yet, and probably won’t; it’s been a busy time at work). This, of course, is part of the brand’s communication strategy.

Back to the collection, I’m still digesting what I saw, though my first impression formed within seconds of watching.

The question that remains open: how flattering will the boxy silhouettes that dominated the collection be to the female figure? And in which category do they fall — a nod to current trends, or a new kind of timeless appeal, one that feels far removed from the effortless freedom of movement that Coco Chanel herself once introduced to the world, where