Matthieu Blazy - Designer, Creative Director of Chanel

[psychopsist]

Discussing smiling as this alien “gimmick” which no one in real life does is sooo funny sorry. Imagining some of you flipping through yearbook photos or at baby showers and going “wow what a bunch of cheesy good for nothing frauds”😹😹lighten up!

Like, if I tell my little cousin “say cheese” at his birthday party, that makes it “fake”? Perhaps if he was sobbing a minute before but otherwise not really imo. I know it’s a show and it’s marketing but they are humans lol. It seems like the deadest of ends to approach this topic as some deep industry secret that “sometimes people smile and laugh and pout on purpose to intentionally communicate something to onlookers.” Duhhhh. Let’s unpack how “nobody actually walks like that” next lmao.

That in mind, smiling & laughter are still quite “easy”/reflexive and many people do them too many times to count per day. We all laugh reading each others replies but being a closer of a big show couldn’t give you a reason to feel genuine joy? Ridiculous. I bet Awar smiled a hundred plus times that day! I giggled writing this! Life is fun sometimes and some people are cheerful in temperament.

Anywaysss yes most of the pics from this latest are very mundane but I do like the ones with everyone leaning in and sm*l*ng☺️💗reminds me of the Versace below. kisses!

 

[Avonlea]

Back when models looked like grown confident women and not awkward teenagers. I miss those times.

 

[thegentlemanboyfriend]

Discussing smiling as this alien “gimmick” which no one in real life does is sooo funny sorry. Imagining some of you flipping through yearbook photos or at baby showers and going “wow what a bunch of cheesy good for nothing frauds”😹😹lighten up!

Like, if I tell my little cousin “say cheese” at his birthday party, that makes it “fake”? Perhaps if he was sobbing a minute before but otherwise not really imo. I know it’s a show and it’s marketing but they are humans lol. It seems like the deadest of ends to approach this topic as some deep industry secret that “sometimes people smile and laugh and pout on purpose to intentionally communicate something to onlookers.” Duhhhh. Let’s unpack how “nobody actually walks like that” next lmao.

That in mind, smiling & laughter are still quite “easy”/reflexive and many people do them too many times to count per day. We all laugh reading each others replies but being a closer of a big show couldn’t give you a reason to feel genuine joy? Ridiculous. I bet Awar smiled a hundred plus times that day! I giggled writing this! Life is fun sometimes and some people are cheerful in temperament.

Anywaysss yes most of the pics from this latest are very mundane but I do like the ones with everyone leaning in and sm*l*ng☺️💗reminds me of the Versace below. kisses!

View attachment 1423723

Right? Like god forbid models having fun for once even if there’s an element of marketing lol This kind of discussion frankly says more about the cynics than Chanel.

 

[psychopsist]

Right? Like god forbid models having fun for once even if there’s an element of marketing lol This kind of discussion frankly says more about the cynics than Chanel.

I’m not even defending Chanel per se, like they don’t need any defense. Just feels odd to present the idea of models(or anyone on stage, or part of a broadcast, celebratory event, etc) smiling and laughing as being an oh so newfangled trick, choreographed or not. Like, have you ever seen a toothpaste commercial? It’s #beendone, on the runway and everywhere else too!

P.s. the “I do” kiss at a wedding isn’t exactly spontaneous either loool. 😹

 

[Hchloe]

Discussing smiling as this alien “gimmick” which no one in real life does is sooo funny sorry. Imagining some of you flipping through yearbook photos or at baby showers and going “wow what a bunch of cheesy good for nothing frauds”😹😹lighten up!

Like, if I tell my little cousin “say cheese” at his birthday party, that makes it “fake”? Perhaps if he was sobbing a minute before but otherwise not really imo. I know it’s a show and it’s marketing but they are humans lol. It seems like the deadest of ends to approach this topic as some deep industry secret that “sometimes people smile and laugh and pout on purpose to intentionally communicate something to onlookers.” Duhhhh. Let’s unpack how “nobody actually walks like that” next lmao.

That in mind, smiling & laughter are still quite “easy”/reflexive and many people do them too many times to count per day. We all laugh reading each others replies but being a closer of a big show couldn’t give you a reason to feel genuine joy? Ridiculous. I bet Awar smiled a hundred plus times that day! I giggled writing this! Life is fun sometimes and some people are cheerful in temperament.

Anywaysss yes most of the pics from this latest are very mundane but I do like the ones with everyone leaning in and sm*l*ng☺️💗reminds me of the Versace below. kisses!

View attachment 1423723

Thank you! This whole discussion is so bizarre.

 

[psychopsist]

I’m glad I’m not alone lol. Hope everyone has a great day😽

 

[Nimsay]

This is fashion - everything is treated with total seriousness, and that’s exactly why normies think it’s absurd.

I didn’t even notice the smiling or the ’90s nods at first. The clothes just look terrible all lined up like that - especially those awful shoes. They should’ve spaced the looks out more; it’s visually jarring…

IIRC the classic Chanel lineup shots are all the same look in different colors so it makes sense. Having a bunch of different looks lined up is a mess. Hedi wouldnt have made that mistake.

 

[Grets]

Yeah the creative direction of this new era is too scattered yet has this air of trying to be minimal or universal but there lacks continuity. Honestly, its giving Sabato de Sarno and the clients sense it too.

 

[Darko]

Zaraesque that's the word and whole concept of this last Chanel show
But everything is beyond mediocre in this decade
Really mediocre and predictable and tbh looks cheap
So tbh Matthieu is so overhyped
And about that headpiece
Jay Kay from Jamiroquai wore it better ages before

 

[Caffeine]

“Fashion has become a joke. It’s all about money. The major companies of fashion, they’re like kids playing soccer, just running after the ball. They’re not thinking about their customers. I just think they have too much money, so they don’t need to work hard. Money is always floating on them.”

"There’s little doubt the sharp downturn in demand for some of the world’s largest and most prestigious luxury houses is, in part, the product of what some analysts have called “greedflation” as brands sought to juice profits with punchy price hikes while under-delivering on creative innovation and quality."

- Yohji Yamamoto in BoF interview

 

[Nimsay]

I think Hermès quietly ran everyone else off a cliff. They signaled major price hikes, so the rest of the industry braced for impact - everyone assumed the Birkin 35 was about to hit $20K retail.

But when Hermès only raised prices modestly, the others had already gone all in. Now that Hermès has stopped the music, Louis Vuitton and Dior are left standing there with some prices that look absurd next to Hermès. Their latest fall mens bag line has really aggressive pricing with mostly everything under 3500.

Birkin bags have always been the king of price. 11k for a Birkin 35 that will last 15 years looking new is hard to compete with.

 

[Lola701]

I think Hermès quietly ran everyone else off a cliff. They signaled major price hikes, so the rest of the industry braced for impact - everyone assumed the Birkin 35 was about to hit $20K retail.

But when Hermès only raised prices modestly, the others had already gone all in. Now that Hermès has stopped the music, Louis Vuitton and Dior are left standing there with some prices that look absurd next to Hermès. Their latest fall mens bag line has really aggressive pricing with mostly everything under 3500.

Birkin bags have always been the king of price. 11k for a Birkin 35 that will last 15 years looking new is hard to compete with.

I think that the Hermes correlation is the basic thing luxury analysts likes to throw when indeed it’s not so much about it.

At Chanel, they were just greedy. It has nothing to do with Hermes. And as Dior has always followed Chanel they just followed.

Chanel got away with a lot once they realized that clients weren’t afraid to spend year after year, price increases after price increases.

The high ticket at Chanel was always RTW and Couture and they were spoiled because in the past decades, clients bought as much RTW as bags.

Hermes has that card of exotics and special editions that they can pull as they like to sell bags at an outrageous price. And they have the luxury of not being a fashion brand, that allows them to be slightly off of the conversation.

Chanel is and was always the Crème de la crème of fashion but greed, not the competition with Hermes, made them crazy.
The price increases at Chanel made a lot of news for the bags but it was accross all categories.
I bought a tweed down jacket from the Paris Cosmopolite (Ritz) collection. It was 6500€. Today the same kind of piece would probably cost me min 10K.

What is even crazy with Chanel is that it’s a private company so they have more leverage and freedom than everybody else in the industry. They are in a better position than Hermes, LVMH, Kering and Richemont reunited. But they followed a logic that seemed motivated by the market when in fact, they can afford to cope with much more things than anybody else.

As we are in the Matthieu and not Chanel thread, I hope that they will take this opportunity to really re-think their model.

I know that they have been selling less Classique and 2.55 and it’s not so bad. They have trendy and less expensive bags that are doing the job.

Hermes is in a different stage. For years, their business dependent on the sales of the Carrés. Now their business depend on the sales of two bags. Yes the « Hermes game » created in boutiques allows them to perform well in all categories but they have to think beyond those two bags. But it’s almost an easy game for them.

 

[Creative]

Le moment le plus commenté du défilé CHANEL n’a rien à voir avec la collection. Et ça en dit long sur notre époque...

C’est le sourire d’Awar Odhiang, mannequin du final, qui a conquis tout le public (Sophie Fontanel 𝘭'𝘢 𝘮𝘦̂𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘦́𝘭𝘦́𝘣𝘳𝘦́ 𝘴𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦́𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘹 !) 🌞

Depuis des années, la mode s’est figée dans la maîtrise :
🫡 postures codifiées, communication millimétrée.
Mais 𝐚̀ 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨̂𝐥𝐞𝐫, 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐩𝐚𝐫 𝐞́𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞 𝐜œ𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐮 𝐥𝐮𝐱𝐞 : l’émotion.

⏩ Dans un contexte où la “luxe fatigue” s’installe, 𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐮𝐱 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢 𝐫𝐞́𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞́𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞́ 𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 - dans leur storytelling, leur expérience client, et même leur communication interne.
La performance esthétique ne suffit plus : c’est la chaleur perçue qui crée la préférence.

This is from a post in LikedIn from Solange Charvoz…

She basically said that the most commented moment was the one with Awar. That says it all about how the industry is pure circus and how people who follow fashion in the social networks couldn’t care less about fashion.

They know that this kind of moments sell (you saw it with Chemena) and they want to replicate it because it’s free marketing.

To me it’s sad that instead of the collection people pay attention to that, I’m sorry. And it’s worth commenting when it’s indeed the most trending video of the whole fashion week.

Fashion is not much different to the Kardashians show anymore and if we jump in this kind of places we are in danger of losing the essence Im sorry.

In the 90s these moments felt genuine, today… gimmicky.

 

[NakedAndAfraid]

When I first started dumping on the emotional aspects of the recent show, I was seeing it through social media/influencer marketing lens, and how reality TV is produced. I have softened a little.

It's possible the models had real unproduced emotions. It read to me way too convenient and unlikely though in the context of a billion dollar company.

Now we have more leaning into emotionality as the narrative of the collection. It looks to me like the message of unmoored JOY that has been popular in some other sectors of society. Just meaningless elation. Don't worry, be happy?

I don't get it, it's not for me, and I frankly find it insulting to everyone's intelligence. I wish there was something resembling substance.

Next season I'm hoping for a spontaneous conga line as the finale that everyone says is unplanned, unrehearsed and just a pure expression of d'esprit Chanel.

 

[Lola701]

When I first started dumping on the emotional aspects of the recent show, I was seeing it through social media/influencer marketing lens, and how reality TV is produced. I have softened a little.

It's possible the models had real unproduced emotions. It read to me way too convenient and unlikely though in the context of a billion dollar company.

Now we have more leaning into emotionality as the narrative of the collection. It looks to me like the message of unmoored JOY that has been popular in some other sectors of society. Just meaningless elation. Don't worry, be happy?

I don't get it, it's not for me, and I frankly find it insulting to everyone's intelligence. I wish there was something resembling substance.

Next season I'm hoping for a spontaneous conga line as the finale that everyone says is unplanned, unrehearsed and just a pure expression of d'esprit Chanel.

I think the concept of « joy » is not a stupid concept to make people buy clothes which in a totally hedonistic POV is supposed to bring us joy.
Consumerism and even more attached to fashion is more linked with the idea of pleasure, desire than need or function…Even more at that price point.

And again, it’s not very new either. Sonia Rykiel literally made it her « fond de commerce » and it’s something that has been done many times in fashion, even at Chanel, where some collections had a real sense of joy and optimism.

I just think that people try to overthink a moment which is just after all, a moment. For marketing expert, it justify a paper but they wouldn’t have though about it if they were asked for it by a client.

I think the idea of joy in HF is always quite difficult to tackle because it can be too commercial sometimes and you kind of need La Crème de la Crème to add a fashion POV to it. I think of the very Joyful campaigns of Bill King for Hermes or Steven Meisel’s work sometimes.

Maybe I’m less cynical because attending shows and being backstage, that feeling of emotion doesn’t seems very manufactured. If we can cry on a dress (in general, it’s not really a dress but the combination of a dress, the music, the girl), why the feeling of emotion someone can feel by being in a room (none of us commenting were at the show) could be fake?

We don’t know what Matthieu’s vision will be in terms of visuals but it will me interesting to see if he choose to indulge in the idea of « joy » around his work.
Maybe it’s a concept that has been too overlooked in fashion.
I don’t want models to have an Arizona Muse kind of career either.

 

[Marc10]

I really didn’t expect that something so simple as a model smiling and hugging a designer would generate this much discourse and extreme reactions lol. But I guess that’s the age we live in…

 

[Grets]

I think the fashion world has to find other points of interest. There is little wow-factor in terms of the clothes.

 

[Alquimista]

I really didn’t expect that something so simple as a model smiling and hugging a designer would generate this much discourse and extreme reactions lol. But I guess that’s the age we live in…

I'm baffled, honestly.

And people are like "it's a marketing move!!" A fashion show IS marketing. A moment of it went viral. Why is Chanel not going to milk it?

Again: Chanel is not a house with strict modelling rules. Well I never saw it that way.

 

[Lola701]

I think the fashion world has to find other points of interest. There is little wow-factor in terms of the clothes.

Or it’s maybe just projection?
We have a lot of discussions on this Forum that has that side thing of being much about Corporatism and Capitalism. And Corporatism and Capitalism always result for a lot of people in cynicism.

There’s this idea of designers being puppets, everything being calculated because somehow we like the idea to think that all billionaires are ultimately like Elon Musk or something like that.

The reality of the fashion industry, the European fashion industry couldn’t be more different. And because there’s so much cultural weight around it the perception people have of this industry is very very much different to what is happening in reality.

It’s like the Demna/Balenciaga situation. People love to think that there are huge teams of people behind those campaigns, reviewing again and again before it being approved when it’s not.

A lot of people are so convinced that the fashion industry, even more in those houses, is so organized and that everything is so controlled that even the emotion of people are controlled.

Fashion, in the creative side is a lot of high skills amateurs with a lot of money. People wants to rationalize everything about an industry where people are spending 100000€ a year in flowers.

 

[tricotineacetat]

This is from a post in LikedIn from Solange Charvoz…

She basically said that the most commented moment was the one with Awar. That says it all about how the industry is pure circus and how people who follow fashion in the social networks couldn’t care less about fashion.

They know that this kind of moments sell (you saw it with Chemena) and they want to replicate it because it’s free marketing.

To me it’s sad that instead of the collection people pay attention to that, I’m sorry. And it’s worth commenting when it’s indeed the most trending video of the whole fashion week.

Fashion is not much different to the Kardashians show anymore and if we jump in this kind of places we are in danger of losing the essence Im sorry.

In the 90s these moments felt genuine, today… gimmicky.

I agree 100% - People are so much biased these days by the right narratives.

We‘ve had a similar case in the German federal parliament a few weeks ago when a female politician held her sleeping, newly-born child while she held her speach - Of course it gained her a ton of media coverage (as well as social media followers) and sympathy from the public, unrelated to anything her work would have gotten her.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that was an intentional move, but it shows the power of the right image - Similar to what happened at Chanel.