Matthieu Blazy - Designer, Creative Director of Chanel

[Xone]

GLitz Paris

The sudden departure of @chanelofficial artistic director @virginieviard in June 2024 and her replacement six months later by @matthieu_blazy had the company's legal department working overtime.

Indeed, to be able to recruit Blazy, Chanel had to accept a service contract, for which Blazy set up his own company in France.

These types of contracts are prized in that they allow designers to recruit their own teams, without having to consult with the brand they work for, but they can also have significant downsides.

To find out more about Blazy's contract and about how service contracts are used in the industry at large, read the investigative article on our website (link in bio).

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so he wanted that position that much to create his own company...wow...so if he gets fired all the company is gone as well...what a way to take BIG responsibility on his shoulders..i assume Chanel execs came with that idea...and Virginie? ok she is out but it was a messy divorce? or civilized one?

 

[yslforever]

so he wanted that position that much to create his own company...wow...so if he gets fired all the company is gone as well...what a way to take BIG responsibility on his shoulders..i assume Chanel execs came with that idea...and Virginie? ok she is out but it was a messy divorce? or civilized one?

Virginie departure was announced in the middle of the night, so yes messy.

 

[Avonlea]

I know it will never happen, but I would love Virginie to write a tell-all, she must have seen so much.

 

[PDFSD]

so he wanted that position that much to create his own company...wow...so if he gets fired all the company is gone as well...what a way to take BIG responsibility on his shoulders..i assume Chanel execs came with that idea...and Virginie? ok she is out but it was a messy divorce? or civilized one?

kim jones has the same construction at dior and fendi the company is listed you can look it up Login • Instagram

KIM JONES STUDIO LTD​

Company number 12693369
Company type Private limited Company Incorporated on 23 June 2020

its not uncommon it has different benefits and different protections than being a full time employer of DIOR or as in this case Chanel, Blazy being hired as a company (independent contractor) rather than an employee.

As i read it Chanel had to except it from Blazy as it was his request not from Chanel as Virginie was an long time employee.

Blazy can have/hire other people work for him in his studio company LAzy Blazy LTD on his things for Chanel, like Kim did and he does not need approval form Chanel :-)

 

[Lola701]

so he wanted that position that much to create his own company...wow...so if he gets fired all the company is gone as well...what a way to take BIG responsibility on his shoulders..i assume Chanel execs came with that idea...and Virginie? ok she is out but it was a messy divorce? or civilized one?

All the designers today with big positions have their own company. It’s just more convenient, even with taxes. NG has his company. Hedi had one too and Kim as @PDFSD mentioned.

As I said in another thread, most contracts now are between two moral entities, not so much between a physical and a moral entity.

This generation of designers is much more business-savvy than their predecessors. In a way, what happened to their predecessors helped them elevate their legal stuff.

I’m very much surprised by the fact that he created his company in France, and not in Belgium.

The clauses of his contract may be interesting. I wonder how much he asked for allowance.

And yes, leaving between 2 collections is messy, considering how Chanel communicated about it. She joined the company in 2000 in full capacity. But thanks to French laws she is protected in terms of rights.

 

[Deleted member 116957]

Not people who always claim to have insider information on the forums failing understanding how business entities make contracts these days. L-f*cking-O-L. Then acting like it's because the designer is power-hungry, greedy, desperate for 'wanting the position'.

 

[Alquimista]

Great reflections from one good insta gay.
What the design team is doing is just a caricature of Chanel, and Karl. A bunch of "codes" that don't say anything.

 

[FashionPower]

Great reflections from one good insta gay.
What the design team is doing is just a caricature of Chanel, and Karl. A bunch of "codes" that don't say anything.

Double standards at their finest...why didn't he criticize the bland and basic Gucci FW25 made with Tom Ford + Vaccarello scraps?
Oh yeah...he gets invitations + freebies from Gucci...
Pointless topic also, it's a CHANEL Cruise (the most commercial after the Prefall) collection designed by a studio collection and the brand is transitioning from the post Karl era to a new one...what was he expecting? Prada FW08 shown at Villa D'Este? Come on now

 

[PDFSD]

Such a cheap shot to aim at the studio even if they are on semi auto pilot Chanel does not need to look like anything any ecce _homo on ig thinks it should be.

Coco was a caricature of herself already in her own time like KL and it's called having a style ....... to have a fashion house with such an amount of clear codes any brand would die to have so many identifiable codes to play with period.

Honestly i feel with the prices Chanel is asking for its goods if your not wearing it especially being a man one should sit down and skip to the next page if so much of the house codes bothers you!!!!!

Its doing pretty well selling its frumpy stuff to many ladies that want it, let the non sexy /non edgy girls have their luxury brand as well. jezus

Chanel clothes where rooted in reality its not Schiaparelli and not everything has to be gay fashion fierce friendly!!

I feel like he is complaining about his elegant old aunts bra choice , and *** kissing his way to blazy era by pissing on the current team.

Blazy show is in 5 months any ways and he is hired to do Coco Chanel at Chanel with all the house codes in tact but modernized or made fashionable for his time.

Blazy is no king of cut or modernity either but we will see of course with his version of Chanel will bring.

 

[Lola701]

I must say that the collection had a sense of style, that was lacking in Virginie’s work.
It’s very juvenile, which I’m not a fan of but when you see it, you have an idea of the girl. It’s Lily Rose Depp, it’s Angèle, it’s Whitney Peak.
I don’t know if someone may want the clothes per say but someone would definitely want to be that girl or be around her.

 

[Alquimista]

No, dear PDFSD. It's not having a style. It's the opposite. It's a bunch of parasites using Coco's design ideas to produce NOTHING. That's far from style.

I don't give a sh*t that someone is paid there or if he has a ig. He is telling the truth.

Karl's death exposed Chanel as creatively bankrupt. Virginie, the design team. No one of them has vision.

 

[LadyJunon]

Bruno Pavlovsky on Blazy's arrival (pulled from Vogue's review of the recent show on Lake Como:

“Matthieu Blazy will be working with part of that same team,” he noted. “From October, he’ll be involved in every decision. But Chanel stands above all—above any individual designer. What we learned from Karl and Virginie is the importance of the Chanel silhouette, the clarity of Chanel style—and keeping that alive, meaningful, and strong will be Matthieu’s next mission. Still,” he went on, “no designer, no matter how talented, can do it alone. He must lead with his vision, but it’s the strength of the team that brings collections to life. Chanel’s codes are powerful, but what’s exciting is injecting them with energy and sparkle. They must evolve, not remain static. We want Matthieu to bring his energy, his vision, and his spark to the house.”

Vogue Runway

 

[tourbillions]

Great reflections from one good insta gay.
What the design team is doing is just a caricature of Chanel, and Karl. A bunch of "codes" that don't say anything.

What in the fashion poems is this instagram post. so pretentious, as if he knows Chanel inside and out. And as if he himself knows how to move it forward. It is going to be difficult to replace someone like Karl who redefined and pretty much took Chanel to his own. Hope he/she is atleast a couture client and not one of those people who bought 1 flap 10 years ago and now complaining how the quality has declined.

As much as we might not like it, Chanel today is the brand it is today because of Karl. Not because Coco stood for anything at her time (Unless the current CD actually enjoyed and found inspiration from the archives, all talks about the history of a brand are all just marketing strategies). It is only the smart move for the studio team to mimic what was succesful. They were not in a position to reinvent the wheel, otherwise it would be tougher for the new CD to introduce his vision.

 

[Kanzai]

As much as we might not like it, Chanel today is the brand it is today because of Karl. Not because Coco stood for anything at her time (Unless the current CD actually enjoyed and found inspiration from the archives, all talks about the history of a brand are all just marketing strategies). It is only the smart move for the studio team to mimic what was succesful. They were not in a position to reinvent the wheel, otherwise it would be tougher for the new CD to introduce his vision.

What? As much as I respect Karl, he's nowhere near the legendary status of Coco Chanel. He would never have been revered the way he is today if it weren’t for his long-standing association with the "Chanel" name. When people hear “Karl", even those who don’t care much about fashion immediately think of Chanel, not his namesake brand, not Fendi, not Chloé. Meanwhile, Coco had a direct and foundational influence on numerous designers from her time and beyond and ofc on Karl and his rivals.

 

[tourbillions]

he doesnt need to be known for fendi/chloe/karl lagerfeld since he is already chanel. Don't know what else someone in fashion could ask for. We are talking about Chanel of today, where he successfully kept it relevant at a time where everyone just jumps from 1 hype to the other. We will never know if the original Coco could have done it but we all know karl did it. It is his Chanel that people of today are dreaming of not the original one.

 

[FashionPower]

The delusion of People thinking that Mat will have complete creative freedom within CHANEL. With Leena and Bruno practically Managing the company, it's obvious they will ask him to tone down / scrap anything they don't actually like and think it doesn't fit CHANEL. We're talking about a multi billion dollars company, not Bottega Veneta...

 

[Deleted member 164735]

The delusion of People thinking that Mat will have complete creative freedom within CHANEL. With Leena and Bruno practically Managing the company, it's obvious they will ask him to tone down / scrap anything they don't actually like and think it doesn't fit CHANEL. We're talking about a multi billion dollars company, not Bottega Veneta...

i am sure this is no news to you but this does apply to bottega and many other brands with the exception of those where the founder is still working as a CD
otherwise the cd+design director cant do anything autonomously and everything is dictated by senior execs and marketing .
Ive worked in a brand where everything that was designed for the next show was literally a result of the analytics for a specific quarter: these shoes never sold well so we are scrapping these forever lol and there should be no hint of red color and stuff like that.

 

[Deleted member 116957]

It’s funny that the Instagram rant is acting like Mlle Chanel was always on the cUtTiNg edge of fashion. Yes, who can forget the time she called mini skirts vulgar in the 60s. So cutting edge. Not reactionary at all.

 

[Deleted member 116957]

What? As much as I respect Karl, he's nowhere near the legendary status of Coco Chanel. He would never have been revered the way he is today if it weren’t for his long-standing association with the "Chanel" name. When people hear “Karl", even those who don’t care much about fashion immediately think of Chanel, not his namesake brand, not Fendi, not Chloé. Meanwhile, Coco had a direct and foundational influence on numerous designers from her time and beyond and ofc on Karl and his rivals.

I think Chanel’s legacy on her own in the current public imagination is impossible to separate from Karl’s impact on Chanel. The cooooonnnstant references to her and her codes and her history. As future focused as Karl was, he didn’t let us forget about Coco. Their legacies are quite intertwined. Before Karl, Chanel was a dusty crusty brand for doctor’s wives. If Karl’s vision for Chanel didn’t work… who knows where the brand would be today. Maybe No. 5 would still be available for sale at every cheap drugstore and she’d just be remembered as a collaborator? Or maybe not, maybe they would have found a different successful designer and we’d have a different perspective on Chanel. Regardless, Karl’s work and success at Chanel rehabbed her image and the house so much.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

Madame Grès was historically as important as Chanel, and only a minority knows about her nowadays.

It takes a Karl to have such a Chanel.