Luxury Unfiltered: Blazy’s Chanel premiere stands as a cosmic reset

October 8, 2025

Daniel Langer is the founder and CEO of consulting firm Équité

Chanel needed a new chapter.

Matthieu Blazy’s debut at the Grand Palais delivered precisely that, with a show staged under a galaxy of floating planets and a reflective runway that amplified the drama. The setting mattered because Chanel had missed theater for years.

This time, it felt like the brand was deciding to dream again.

Lessons from the runway
The collection moved between boyish tailoring, elongated shirting, frayed tweeds, feathered evening skirts and glittering knit dresses, signaling a pivot toward structure, texture and motion rather than logo noise.

The ovation was immediate. It was also deserved.

Editors on site called out “exploded” flowers, shredded organzas, weighted hems and a trompe l’œil approach to tweed that read as fresh without rejecting the codes.

The live commentary out of Paris was a chorus of “wearable and unbelievably chic,” the sort of language that matters to clients who buy clothes to live in, not only to archive.

It also matters to stylists who influence awards-season visibility. In short, the industry saw intention, craftsmanship and relevance.

The press framed the debut as a return to showmanship and wit. That narrative is critical for a house whose power has long been built on story and stagecraft.

The androgynous suiting that opened the show nodded to Gabrielle Chanel’s menswear borrowings, while the celestial mise-en-scène linked grandeur to optimism. This was not shock value.

It was controlled exuberance that respects heritage without freezing it.

Connecting to craft
On Instagram, early reactions clustered around two poles.

Influencer reels and fashion accounts praised a “new energy for Chanel,” highlighting movement, surface play and the spectacle of the set.

Others pushed back, calling parts of the lineup “6 out of 10” and “boring,” a reminder that house resets rarely achieve instant consensus in a feed culture that rewards hot takes.

The polarization is healthy because it shows people are looking closely again. Indifference is the true risk for legacy brands.

TikTok and Instagram sentiment in the West seemed to skew net positive during and immediately after the show. The accounts that shape taste among younger luxury consumers amplified the craft, the elongated silhouettes and the sense that Chanel had switched the lights back on.

Celebrities in attendance fueled momentum, with red-carpet editors already placing bets on the feathered skirts and liquid evening dresses. That connective tissue between runway and culture is where desirability compounds.

China adds nuance. Enthusiasm around Blazy’s appointment last winter was real, but it met a market where Chanel’s pricing, access and messaging have faced fatigue.

Over the past year, Chinese coverage tracked a cooling of queue culture and less automatic acceptance of value framing, even as the brand invested in doors, exhibitions and transparency around craft.

A creative reset can reignite attention, yet the runway alone will not reverse sentiment or drive conversion if pricing logic and client experience do not move in parallel. Today’s debut creates a starting point.

The groundwork in China needs to follow with speed and precision.

Buyers and analysts responded as you would hope. The consensus described a confident blend of homage and innovation, a sign that the house can defend its core while widening the aperture for new clients.

Several outlets contextualized the debut against recent pressure on Chanel’s top line and profitability, which only raises the stakes. A designer can reset perception.

Only consistent product, service and price discipline converts heat into durable growth. The competitive frame is unforgiving.

Paris is saturated with strong points of view this season. What differentiates is a total system that connects craft to emotion, showmanship to everyday luxury, and a store journey that feels alive.

Blazy builds momentum
Blazy’s debut gives Chanel permission to move again. The house now has to turn that energy into rituals, touchpoints and clienteling that feel unmistakably Chanel in 2026, not 2016.

My initial verdict: this was an elegant reset rather than a rupture, which is clever. The downfall of Gucci shows what happens when a brand changes direction too brutally.

It is the right opening note because trust is rebuilt through coherence. Chanel has reclaimed attention.

To keep it, the brand must now fuel desire continuously, collection to collection, store to store, market to market. Blazy’s first Chanel show succeeded where it mattered most.

It makes clients and critics want to look again. The West read it as a return to form with modernity.

China will require more than a beautiful runway to convert renewed attention into advocacy. The next six months should focus on translating this creative intent into product clarity, pricing logic and an experience that feels personal, fast and emotionally resonant across regions.

Chanel has momentum. The work starts now.

For luxury leaders, this is a reminder that any renewal is strategic, not just cosmetic. Audit your brand.

Tighten your brand story. Elevate craftsmanship into client conversation.

Then operationalize desire across markets with speed. If you do not, a rival who understands how to turn attention into emotion, engagement, experience and exclusivity will.

Bravo, Chanel, for this strategic move.

Luxury Unfiltered is a weekly column by Daniel Langer. He is the CEO of Équité, a global luxury strategy and creative brand activation firm, where he is the advisor to some of the most iconic luxury brands. He is recognized as a global top-five luxury key opinion leader. He serves as the executive professor of luxury strategy and pricing at Pepperdine University in Malibu and as a professor of luxury at New York University, New York. Dr. Langer has authored best-selling books on luxury management in English and Chinese and is a respected global keynote speaker.

Dr. Langer conducts masterclass management training on various luxury topics around the world. As a luxury expert featured on Bloomberg TV, Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist and others, Mr. Langer holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in luxury management and has received education from Harvard Business School. Follow him on LinkedIn and Instagram, and listen to his Future of Luxury Podcast.

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