Matthieu Blazy - Designer, Creative Director of Chanel

[PDFSD]

susannanicoletti

Is CHANEL going to be the next Gucci ?
It seems that the French maison has started taking the same parabolic path of the Italian brand: from prestige to dullness to business troubles.
A new designer who has not understood neither how to approach a luxury brand nor how to develop appealing products for the customer base going through full funnel.

Disruption much more than evolution
These are emblematic products that were once iconic for both brands and we can only see crashed ideas.
Lots of buzz for nothing?

On top of this is news of the past days that Gucci is heavily discounting its stock in different ways in China with 25% discount as they have very low sell out (De Meo leaked plan says 50%).
On Vinted there are sales of product new with the label which are very relevant.
Is invading the markets with discount the right move?
Is it survival mode at its worst or a good relaunch step 1?

Weird products and loss of loyal customers because of new and not at the height brand decisions can really harm very much the business.
Danger Zone...



comment by :
Ercole E.
Global Brand Strategist

You’re circling a truth most people in luxury prefer to speak about only behind the velvet curtain.
When a maison loses the scent of itself, the decay doesn’t begin with numbers, it begins with a slight nausea in the loyal customer.
A feeling that something once sacred has been replaced by something… committee-approved.

Is CHANEL becoming the next Gucci? Not yet. But the early tremors feel familiar: products that look like they were designed during a fire drill, disruption mistaken for personality, and that strange buzz that rattles loudly online but dies the moment it hits the boutique’s carpet.

When a brand no longer recognizes its own believers, the believers quietly stop recognizing the brand.
And then comes the discounting, the final frontier. Once luxury trains its audience to wait for 25% off, desire turns into arithmetic.
Maybe it’s a relaunch strategy, maybe it’s panic dressed as optimism. Either way, it’s a dangerous chemical to put in the bloodstream.
Luxury isn’t killed by bad seasons.
It’s killed when it forgets the pact it made with the people who loved it.

 

[Norden]

I think the more I see from his Chanel the more I feel that it has no allure and magic. It feels so pedestrian and democratic. Obviously this goes beyond his reach, because I find the corporate side of Chanel really awful, this Leena Nair and Bruno are beyond overexposed.

To be honest they should have given the keys to Hedi, but it would mean their jobs would be meaningless. Chanel under him would have had prestige and some kind of mystique, perhaps more boring, but at least it would be precise and beautiful.

When I look at Chanel now, I see a mess. The marketing is all over the place, the brand ambassadors are humourless, the collections are stews of random things and creative director and c suite are talking too much. it's hideous and tasteless. Im not a Chanel client, but if I was, id be so turned off by it all.

 

[Caffeine]

susannanicoletti

Is CHANEL going to be the next Gucci ?
It seems that the French maison has started taking the same parabolic path of the Italian brand: from prestige to dullness to business troubles.
A new designer who has not understood neither how to approach a luxury brand nor how to develop appealing products for the customer base going through full funnel.

Disruption much more than evolution
These are emblematic products that were once iconic for both brands and we can only see crashed ideas.
Lots of buzz for nothing?

On top of this is news of the past days that Gucci is heavily discounting its stock in different ways in China with 25% discount as they have very low sell out (De Meo leaked plan says 50%).
On Vinted there are sales of product new with the label which are very relevant.
Is invading the markets with discount the right move?
Is it survival mode at its worst or a good relaunch step 1?

Weird products and loss of loyal customers because of new and not at the height brand decisions can really harm very much the business.
Danger Zone...

View attachment 1440205View attachment 1440206

comment by :
Ercole E.
Global Brand Strategist

You’re circling a truth most people in luxury prefer to speak about only behind the velvet curtain.
When a maison loses the scent of itself, the decay doesn’t begin with numbers, it begins with a slight nausea in the loyal customer.
A feeling that something once sacred has been replaced by something… committee-approved.

Is CHANEL becoming the next Gucci? Not yet. But the early tremors feel familiar: products that look like they were designed during a fire drill, disruption mistaken for personality, and that strange buzz that rattles loudly online but dies the moment it hits the boutique’s carpet.

When a brand no longer recognizes its own believers, the believers quietly stop recognizing the brand.
And then comes the discounting, the final frontier. Once luxury trains its audience to wait for 25% off, desire turns into arithmetic.
Maybe it’s a relaunch strategy, maybe it’s panic dressed as optimism. Either way, it’s a dangerous chemical to put in the bloodstream.
Luxury isn’t killed by bad seasons.
It’s killed when it forgets the pact it made with the people who loved it.

Nausea or violent vomit?

 

[tricotineacetat]

One concern I would like to add is that the amount of collections and product at Chanel makes it difficult to identify and build up a potential best-selling product attributed to Matthieu Blazy - Ghesquière's debut at Vuitton was cleverly coordinated with one handbag style (the Petit Malle) that featured in several looks of the collection. It has since become a collectible icon for the brand, aside from their classics.

Now I'm not much of a handbag person but I don't think it's the right way to establish a the era under a new creative director with an overwhelming amount of product, of which a lot are feeling rushed and individually believed in. Sometimes what is needed is not quantity and frequency but a well thought-out product supported by a marketing/PR that puts it into focus.

 

[tricotineacetat]

I think the more I see from his Chanel the more I feel that it has no allure and magic. It feels so pedestrian and democratic. Obviously this goes beyond his reach, because I find the corporate side of Chanel really awful, this Leena Nair and Bruno are beyond overexposed.

To be honest they should have given the keys to Hedi, but it would mean their jobs would be meaningless. Chanel under him would have had prestige and some kind of mystique, perhaps more boring, but at least it would be precise and beautiful.

When I look at Chanel now, I see a mess. The marketing is all over the place, the brand ambassadors are humourless, the collections are stews of random things and creative director and c suite are talking too much. it's hideous and tasteless. Im not a Chanel client, but if I was, id be so turned off by it all.

Let‘s be honest about one thing - None of what management enforced at Chanel signals in the direction of lasting success - They aimed at a higher product revenue by raising the prices and lowering the qulity of their leather goods and upped on the frequency of collections - To me, that reads more mass market than what you expect from a couture maison whose exclusivity and status is only rivaled by Hermès.

It doesn't help at all to put a creative director in such a place who does not manage to produce collections with a clarity of direction.

 

[PDFSD]

Let‘s be honest about one thing - None of what management enforced at Chanel signals in the direction of lasting success - They aimed at a higher product revenue by raising the prices and lowering the qulity of their leather goods and upped on the frequency of collections - To me, that reads more mass market than what you expect from a couture maison whose exclusivity and status is only rivaled by Hermès.

It doesn't help at all to put a creative director in such a place who does not manage to produce collections with a clarity of direction.

also if we notice most of Blazy bags have the quilting removed some have only the stitching or are fake crock or other flat leathers if not embroidery, so one less production process needed to be done for producing the bags matching the quilting etc .

its a literal flattening of the bags ..but prices are still the same or even more.

 

[Caffeine]

also if we notice most of Blazy bags have the quilting removed some have only the stitching or are fake crock or other flat leathers if not embroidery, so one less production process needed to be done for producing the bags matching the quilting etc .

its a literal flattening of the bags ..but prices are still the same or even more.

did Dacob say it also? For some bags, the styles work with the BV intrecciato texture, but not on smooth leather, because they look too basic.
Hermes has many plain styles, but the leather is divine (I get that recent quality is also less than perfect) - I'll take their chevre over anything in the market right now.

 

[carla56]

susannanicoletti

Is CHANEL going to be the next Gucci ?
It seems that the French maison has started taking the same parabolic path of the Italian brand: from prestige to dullness to business troubles.
A new designer who has not understood neither how to approach a luxury brand nor how to develop appealing products for the customer base going through full funnel.

Disruption much more than evolution
These are emblematic products that were once iconic for both brands and we can only see crashed ideas.
Lots of buzz for nothing?

On top of this is news of the past days that Gucci is heavily discounting its stock in different ways in China with 25% discount as they have very low sell out (De Meo leaked plan says 50%).
On Vinted there are sales of product new with the label which are very relevant.
Is invading the markets with discount the right move?
Is it survival mode at its worst or a good relaunch step 1?

Weird products and loss of loyal customers because of new and not at the height brand decisions can really harm very much the business.
Danger Zone...

View attachment 1440205View attachment 1440206

comment by :
Ercole E.
Global Brand Strategist

You’re circling a truth most people in luxury prefer to speak about only behind the velvet curtain.
When a maison loses the scent of itself, the decay doesn’t begin with numbers, it begins with a slight nausea in the loyal customer.
A feeling that something once sacred has been replaced by something… committee-approved.

Is CHANEL becoming the next Gucci? Not yet. But the early tremors feel familiar: products that look like they were designed during a fire drill, disruption mistaken for personality, and that strange buzz that rattles loudly online but dies the moment it hits the boutique’s carpet.

When a brand no longer recognizes its own believers, the believers quietly stop recognizing the brand.
And then comes the discounting, the final frontier. Once luxury trains its audience to wait for 25% off, desire turns into arithmetic.
Maybe it’s a relaunch strategy, maybe it’s panic dressed as optimism. Either way, it’s a dangerous chemical to put in the bloodstream.
Luxury isn’t killed by bad seasons.
It’s killed when it forgets the pact it made with the people who loved it.

I just can't stand her... from her words, it seems like the only savior of the fashion world is MGC. Everything else is a disaster... imagine ten brands directed by 10 MGCs, what a wonder, what a joy, what a dream, what emotions!!!

 

[Creative]

I’m

I just can't stand her... from her words, it seems like the only savior of the fashion world is MGC. Everything else is a disaster... imagine ten brands directed by 10 MGCs, what a wonder, what a joy, what a dream, what emotions!!!

It baffles me when I read people praising or not being harsh on MGC.

She’s literally the worst designer one can ever imagine. Her garments felt so heavy handed and poorly designed… it was terrible.

 

[carla56]

I’m

It baffles me when I read people praising or not being harsh on MGC.

She’s literally the worst designer one can ever imagine. Her garments felt so heavy handed and poorly designed… it was terrible.

I kinda disagree … i don’t like MGC because she’s so boring and dull and with no imagination, but I can totally understand from a customer point of view that she “designs” gorgeous made dresses, very safe, which can make you appear impeccable in every occasion. It’s like being dressed in Armani, you will (almost) never be out of place, but you won’t even have that sparkle… said this… i find ridiculous that this susanna takes her as the only good designer in the fashion world…

 

[Caffeine]

I’m

It baffles me when I read people praising or not being harsh on MGC.

She’s literally the worst designer one can ever imagine. Her garments felt so heavy handed and poorly designed… it was terrible.

But her commercial offerings are very flattering!
Her clothes are our school PA leaders' favorites. Always quiet but pretty. Well tailored, flattering, and appropriate.
In some meetings I would put on my Chanel jackets, but my favorite work trousers are Dior 30 Montaigne pants in wool and silk. When I need a matching suit, my favorite is her bar jacket with the matching pants.

 

[Frederic01]

A feeling that something once sacred has been replaced by something… committee-approved.

Basically every single brand within the portfolio of Kering and LVMH and etc.

Karl really was the last designer to imbue something magical into his work. There was something about Chanel then that really elevated it to another realm, far above all other brands. Now, Chanel is just like everyone else. Even more so with Matthieu at the helm, bringing in his Bottega-isms to the brand.

The reality is, corporate killed creativity. The only brands where true creativity reigns supreme is at brands where growth is a motivation, but not the be all and end all.

Chanel cannot be interesting anymore due to people like Bruno Pavlovsky and Unilever’s Leena Nair. The moment the latter arrived at Chanel, the brand started to lose its magic. It might have made more money, but it was soulless and without any merit whatsoever.

But what else do you expect of someone that comes from a company that sells household domestic cleaners and mayonnaise lmao.

 

[fenty]

She looks crazy

 

[Caffeine]

Even tucking in the shirt would help...

 

[Frederic01]

THE ELORDI ARCHIVES

 

[Grets]

Blazy's runway lacks cohesion but even his outfits on their own are incoherent. Sure Virginie did these vests over denim but there was this feminine softness (like MGC). Maybe it was boring but this is so dull but also edgeless.

 

[Creative]

But her commercial offerings are very flattering!
Her clothes are our school PA leaders' favorites. Always quiet but pretty. Well tailored, flattering, and appropriate.
In some meetings I would put on my Chanel jackets, but my favorite work trousers are Dior 30 Montaigne pants in wool and silk. When I need a matching suit, my favorite is her bar jacket with the matching pants.

But tbh the commercial pieces in 1166 are literally the same Dior pieces all the time, just revisited. The fabrics they used for tailoring in the 30Montaigne capsule is the classic 1166 that all the designers at Dior use, and that fabric is pure magic. The fit of the bar is nice, I agree, but the only decent thing she did fashion wise was that line in 1166 that Raf and John also developed in their own language.

The denim, the parkas, the jersey, the tulle skirts from the collections… all that was terrible.

If you go to any store you might find pretty things… I’m sure PPP has many beautiful things at Valentino for daily wear or events, but that can happen even at the most random brand.

As a whole to me she’s useless as a designer and probably one of the most boring ones I’ve ever seen in my life. She’s not even a one trick pony because she has no trick, just puts a logo in everything and that’s it.

Her leather pieces were also so heavy… the intarsia coats were awful in terms of proportions too… ugh I hated it all. The NdSF dresses… my gawdddd so ugly. Not to talk about the campaigns and her bags… the tote, the miss dior that lasted 2 seasons, the 30 Montaigne, the Bobby… 🤢

The only good thing she did was making the Lady Dior relevant again.

Giorgio Armani to me is completely different. He had a sense of color (one of the best ones), fabric (one of the best ones), proportions… it’s like comparing God to a an ant.