Matthieu Blazy - Designer, Creative Director of Chanel

[Lola701]

i think blazy did always blazy the overworked craft at margiela we can see from his academie years as to now at BV ....and he had a hard time letting his shows or look book stylings breath or make a cohesive or edited chapters in his collections ...so clearly he has his signature (Obsessions with overworked and craft )

don't you think his aesthetic is that: overworked crafty ?

You don’t like his work so you are biaised anyway lol.
No I think his aesthetic is very architectural. He is good at tailoring, I still think about the egg peacoats from his first collection and how very structured his work is overall.

His approach to decoration is very artisanal indeed.

But I think it’s interesting to see that interpretation from Margiela to Bottega Veneta. There’s a sense of modernity in his work but I think what characterized his BV was his take on bourgeoisie. It was very bourgeois.

I think at Chanel, unlike Margiela or Bottega Veneta, he will have plenty of room and ressources to really experiment.

Except maybe for his first 2 and his last collection for BV, there was always a sense of too much ideas that were not helped by the styling.

At Chanel, an experimentation for Haute Couture can be developed in Metiers d’arts or RTW. I think about when Karl started the embroidered tweed on organza or the concrete embroideries. Those techniques were further developed from Couture to RTW.

What I know we will get from his Chanel is clean cut! No more sloppy bulky tweed suits like the ones form the last Metiers d’Arts.

Despite the image of Chanel, Karl never stopped to push things forward so it leaves a room for anyone to really go there when I think that the heritage of Coco alone can be somehow limiting.

 

[jeremydante]

Thanks for sharing, Jeremy! Chitose is an excellent designer, although i dont follow her actively. Definitely an unconventional choice for Chanel. On my end I was rooting for Simone Rocha! I feel like her vision would be perfect there, alas...

Oh, yes- Simone would've been an interesting choice. I romanticize the idea of a woman leading the house in the vein of Coco. But, guys it is I guess. Thanks for sharing also. We'll see what Mattieu does in 2025.

 

[proseccotabis]

Oh, yes- Simone would've been an interesting choice. I romanticize the idea of a woman leading the house in the vein of Coco. But, guys it is I guess. Thanks for sharing also. We'll see what Mattieu does in 2025.

personally for me Louise's appointment as a female CD is the only exciting thing about her in BV. But im biased because of my profession. Curious to see what Blazy will do in Chanel and hoping he wont turn it into bunnies and frills like he did in BV. . ha

 

[fruitdots]

It's peculiar to see the blowback here re. Blazy's appointment, because so much of it seems contradictory. Chanel appoints someone who is primed to make use of the vast capabilities of their ateliers, and who is—by all accounts—beloved by the craftspeople he works with, and now we're nostalgic for "personality" and Karl's set-design? After years of complaints about designers being showmen instead of designers, suddenly people are reversing the equation and begging for carousels on the runway? We don't want someone who's interested in craft and technique? It's all so absurd.

You may not love Blazy's Bottega, that's fine, but he's a serious appointment & will work with the incredible depth of knowledge now at his disposal instead of pulling a Slimane and funnelling everything into a set of pre-determined codes. As far as I'm concerned the appointment at Chanel is objectively good for fashion, especially as we're being bashed over the head with Pharrell at Louis Vuitton & Demna's parade of celebrities in garbage bags at Balenciaga.

 

[Alquimista]

Goddamn I was at the gym yesterday and couldn't post about the whole thing

Well, I understand the doubts, the questions, I have doubts too. But I really want to trust Bruno. Like, he spent months to find the right person. Someone that would fit all the criteria. I truly think he was very picky - maybe that's why we all guessed wrong.

But is Blazy capable of doing Metier d'art?? I think Bruno have the answer. Imagine how many tests he did with the candidates. So Blazy probably can do a Metier d'art collection, couture, etc.

Everything Bruno said points out to Blazy being very adaptable. It's not gonna be a Hedi/Michele situation.

And I hope he don't let the (inevitable) pressure put him in a corner where he won't step past conventions, explore the codes with more heterodoxy.

 

[KoV]

I'm not criticizing you for posting this, but just to address what that person is saying and sort of an overall comment about 90% of the fashion-related Instagram and tiktok accounts....

"52% more popular!!!" kind of bs metrics are so goofy. Chanel making a huge announcement and as a result, the word "Chanel" being written 52% more often in the immediate aftermath is in no way an indicator of excitement or an impressive uptick. I have very little knowledge about these things but those accounts really have no idea about anything. Which is fine, they can say what they want and run their silly little data searches as we all can! I just hope their followers understand they have no real credibility or valuable insight.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

You are right KoV.
It's not an increase in popularity.
People just look for information, and many don't have expectations, excitement or hopes.
They don't think: wow, Blazy at Chanel, it is going to be perfectly crafted, but... maybe a little too overthought?
They just think: ok, and move forward.

 

[tricotineacetat]

You don’t like his work so you are biaised anyway lol.
No I think his aesthetic is very architectural. He is good at tailoring, I still think about the egg peacoats from his first collection and how very structured his work is overall.

It probably boils down to taste and preferences, but I thought his tailoring and “novelty shapes” lacked refinement - Weird curved trouser hems, ugly wide suit jacket lapels, ill button placement and expressive shapes that put experimentation over refinement. He lacks an eye for sophistication that I expect for a house like Chanel where the houses' core signatures are essentially timeless.

There are people like Ghesquiere who have proven that these assets don’t need to exclude one another, mainly with his impeccable Balenciaga collections from the early 2000s when his silhouettes were more sleek and neatly tailored.

I really hope Blazy’s Chanel will be more pragmatic than BV by placing the novelty factor mainly with Chanel’s artisan ateliers and not by conceiving designs that are overworked.

 

[Xone]

You are right KoV.
It's not an increase in popularity.
People just look for information, and many don't have expectations, excitement or hopes.
They don't think: wow, Blazy at Chanel, it is going to be perfectly crafted, but... maybe a little too overthought?
They just think: ok, and move forward.

exactly that's how people use social media. not everyone of course...i think they translate that as popularity or whatever....that's why i decided to post it...everything is so volatile....but that's another discussion lol

 

[Xone]

I'm not criticizing you for posting this, but just to address what that person is saying and sort of an overall comment about 90% of the fashion-related Instagram and tiktok accounts....

"52% more popular!!!" kind of bs metrics are so goofy. Chanel making a huge announcement and as a result, the word "Chanel" being written 52% more often in the immediate aftermath is in no way an indicator of excitement or an impressive uptick. I have very little knowledge about these things but those accounts really have no idea about anything. Which is fine, they can say what they want and run their silly little data searches as we all can! I just hope their followers understand they have no real credibility or valuable insight.

i think it's been analyzed on a very superficial level...sadly that's how a lot of people behave on social media....like those people who follows 7k accounts.....the level of consumption is out of control...