Chanel Pre-Fall 2026 New York

[Lola701]

I also think that Chanel by Blazy is going to be a commercial success.
Let's be honest, maybe it is not what we were dreaming but it is not that bad neither.

The fact that Chanel is part of the fashion conversation is what I find a pity.
The magic of Chanel was to always be there and at the same time to be outside.
We are talking about Métiers d'arts because long ago Chanel decided to display all the different techniques and savoir-faire of their maisons.
Yet this show doesn't feel at all like a celebration of the craftmanship.

It feels like just another show by someone who took notes about Demna's gritty decors for his first Vetements shows (the chinese restaurant in Belleville, the gay club), of someone who payed attention to Raf's & Sterling Ruby dresses for Dior, of someone who "is" in the conversation, and thus, competing with Balenciaga, Dior, Saint Laurent...
Whereas the allure of Chanel was always to be beyond that, to be in its own island.
Right now only Hermès possesses that kind of magic.

But yes, it will sell, Chanel is a powerful machine, better oiled than Gucci or Dior.
I always said: if you are stupid, you cannot work at Chanel.
There are other places for incompetent people.

I respect your POV.

For me Chanel has to be part of the fashion conversation. Because it’s a leading fashion brand. Chanel will always be Chanel but for 30 years we were used to not know what Karl has cooked for us.
That kept us on our toes.
Essentially, we knew what we were going to get without knowing essentially what we were going to get.

And it’s something that disappeared with Virginie.

I liked few of her collections (maybe 3/4) but for me Chanel decreased so much as a leading voice than I’m happy that someone is bringing back that energy.

And Blazy is still new. There’s a sense of uncertainty that I find interesting mixed with his confidence.
I always try to look at it beyond Chanel you know. How to install a language, a formula. Karl was quite comfortable infusing his personality in his first few collections I think of the very Schiaparelli trompe-l’oeil black dress with Lesage embroideries or when he did 18th Century in his second or third Couture.
You have people like Alber who despite having showcase great talent at Guy Laroche struggled to find his formula at YSL. His last collection at YSL was his best and most confident and you see a clear thread between that, the collection he did for Krizia and the great confidence of his first collection for Lanvin.

For me the greatest thing about Karl’s work at Chanel from a pure design standpoint were his dresses. He was a fabulous dressmaker. But he approached daywear almost like a stylist, in an exercise de style, because it’s such a revered imposed figure that has to be tweaked.

Competition is not bad. Chanel was always in a competition. That’s how Chanel was brought back to life. You had to be competitive in the 80’s, the era of Gaultier, Montana, Alaia, Mugler to impose a Chanel suit as an element of power again.

Karl was already in competition with them at Chloe so he understood that.

We can also talk about the on going conversation between Chanel and Versace in the first half of the 90’s. Or the switch to monastic minimalism in the late 90’s. To then a more sexy allure in the early 00’s.

The magic of Chanel as we have always knew it was to be in the thin line between fashion and that ultimate figure of French fashion.

A Chanel garment, no matter how wacky, outrageous it can be always manage to be Chanel. And not so much a testament of a particular era.

The best pieces from Virginie will hold their stylistic value compared maybe to the most iconic piece from Demna from the same season.

But it’s essential to be part of the fashion conversation.

But maybe a conversation could be open about the designers of our times who seems maybe too infused with their references and can maybe also be a victim of the constant harrassement of visuals and images. I don’t believe that creative are immune to that.
And maybe it does reflect on their work.

Designers who are products of their environment are heading fashion houses today. It’s a reality we cannot escape as much as some people expect designers to live in an ivory tower.

But is it a factor that should forbid to have this new generation of designers at the head of those houses? There are points to explore…

 

[Caffeine]

It's fun cause in my opinion that Cruise collection was rock bottom from the studio. Very Slavic influencer with 50k followers living Dubai and doing onlyfans as a side gig. Too saccharine, juvenile looking and very "influencer". Even the Villa D'Este venue was used in a very cheap way as the show backdrop. It was indeed giving escort girl spending the night with her sugar daddy at the 5 star ultraluxe hotel. The studio did an amazing job with the Metiers D'Art from last year.

Given the number of NWT items on TRR, you might be onto something.

 

[tourbillions]

i still dont understand how they thought blazy could handle Chanel. He was barely surviving in bottega. Influencers over praising his work can only get him so far, if he cannot define his Chanel woman in a couple of seasons, this hype die and they will be at a worst position than virginie era. Now we see Chanel in a different light so it could feel "new" but we all know that his fashion vocabulary isnt that wide.

 

[yslforever]

I think they chose the subway station not to be relatable but because it’s an EXOTIC destination for the people invited to attend the show and the VICs.
I just find this in very very poor taste, «let’s experience 15 minutes of the life of the poor ».

Saint Laurent SS19 Men is still miles better than this.

The only thing I like is the casting.

 

[Phuel]

He’s shown an disappointing pattern of producing a collection where maybe at the very best, half of the offerings are solid— even very good, with the rest being just forgettable, 3rd-year fashion student fillers that’s more CLO3D-designed than tailored to and for a woman’s shape. All the lesser likes of him— JW and Daniel Lee come to mind as contemporaries, are also plagued with this sort of middling fillers supporting a few splattering of solid designs. None of these people are capable of producing a strong collection of covetable separates from beginning to end. But I’ve also learned long ago that even the designers’ whose sensibility and aesthetic I never liked, like Versace (both Giannni and Donatella), Roberto Cavalli, DSqaured2, and even Philip Plein (LOL), will have some designs, when separated from their obnoxiously gaudy branding and looked at on a rack alongside other designers’ garments, they will oftentimes impress with the cut/construction/quality. It’s what I’ve appreciated of Pieter’s Alaia, and in some ways, also of Mathieu’s Chanel, from that POV. And if I were a woman with very fortunate means, I would wear his Chanel. But like Pieter’s, it’s nothing really to obsess over. It’s nice at best, but his designs never create nor remain an impact-- and take away the Chanel label, no one would notice his designs. None of these lessers possess that creative flair and ingenuity that elevate the gimmicky to the timeless. I can see why Hedi showed his pettier side for Mathieu’s debut: It’s all so poorly tailored, even if the handwork embellishments are very nice.

But more obnoxious than anything, the blatant tone-deaf initiative of presenting the most expensiveh brand in the world in NYC’s public transit system— where everyday people are experiencing more violence and worse than ever before (and it’s not just NYC. From my neck of the woods, even a transit worker was charged with stabbing. Sadly, it’s just become a weekly showcase of the expectations and human nature for public transit riders from where I’m from. And that has nothing to do with sheep-partisan propaganda), just furthers the stereotype of vapid fashion people, clueless and insensitive to the real world, and all done in the name of creative tourism. It’s 2 for 2 when it comes to just peak cringe for Matthieu’s Chanel presentation, giving a vibe of the affluent girls from The Bling Ring singing along to rap. (…LMFAO at the pathetic sucker that witlessly thought he could target Mullet and get away: She will take you down like Kathy Bates in Misery.)

 

[Caffeine]

I can see why Hedi showed his pettier side for Mathieu’s debut: It’s all so poorly tailored, even if the handwork embellishments are very nice.

My SA happened to find the FW2024 opening black dress on sale for me. I didn't pay much attention to it, because it was all black with long sleeves - so plain.
I put it on in the fitting room. It just lifted my spirit. The structure and the fit were perfect. It was the most flattering. The material was also substantial. Same with the little black dress from his last collection. There was little fanfare, but whatever he did, it was magically flattering.
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Does anyone know how big an overlap there was b/w BV RTW and KL's or VV's Chanel RTW?
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I went to a nice holiday party this weekend. Many rich moms including ex-models. Everyone was glamourous. No one in big shoulder jackets/BV/Demna looks. I start to wonder if they are fashion industry uniform that only show up in fashion work place or in fashion area like the meatpacking district in NYC?