Chanel staged its Spring-Summer 2027 women’s ready-to-wear collection at the Grand Palais on Monday, 5 October 2026, as part of Paris Fashion Week. The collection bears the signature of the house’s artistic director, Matthieu Blazy. The show took place exactly one year after Blazy’s first runway show for Chanel. As seen in the video published by FashionUnited, illuminated bird figures suspended beneath the building’s famous glass roof made for one of the season’s most memorable sets.
Birds gliding beneath the glass roof
According to Kuwait Times, drawing on an AFP report, giant illuminated origami cranes hung above the runway; the reporter likened the sight to a mobile above a child’s cot. Hürriyet Daily News, which ran the AP report, writes that beneath the luminous birds hanging from the ceiling, the looks evoked clouds. FashionUnited likewise mentions a painted runway and bird-like illuminated structures suspended from the ceiling.
The bird theme is tied directly to the collection’s story. In his show notes, Blazy approached the life of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel as a journey of emancipation. In the notes quoted by Kuwait Times, the designer says of Chanel that “each step she took led to her being free, like a bird”. According to Hürriyet Daily News, the collection traces Chanel’s path from the constraints of Edwardian dress to the freedom she sought in clothing. According to the same report, Blazy wrote in his notes that the collection speaks of the different women who live within one woman.
Tweed, sheerness and new proportions
FashionUnited notes that the collection updated the house’s heritage tailoring with modern proportions. Signature tweed, structured suits and sheer layers came together with fringed hems, contrast piping and sequin details. Among the accessories, bags with quilted flaps, hard-shell vanity cases, two-tone shoes and statement chain belts stood out.
According to the AP report cited by Hürriyet Daily News, the show featured 83 looks. Masculine tailoring pieces such as gently body-skimming knits, raw-edged waistcoats and slim-skirted suits; a pearl-embellished corset top with black trousers, ruffled collars, peplums and corset boning formed the collection’s main line. A ruched tweed newly developed by the house, which stretches for easier movement, was also seen for the first time this season. According to the same report, some voluminous tutu skirts at times came close to a costume effect. Kuwait Times, meanwhile, writes that classic tweeds were refreshed with modern touches and that knee-length skirts made a comeback this season.
One of the show’s symbolic details was a bag. According to Hürriyet Daily News, Dyanira Hurbuscher, the model who opened and closed the show, carried Gabrielle Chanel’s own 2.55 bag, borrowed from the house’s archive.
The front row and Blazy’s first year
Both sources report that Nicole Kidman, Dua Lipa and Pedro Pascal sat in the front row; Kuwait Times adds John Malkovich to the list. Blazy, who came from Bottega Veneta to succeed Virginie Viard, has been working to renew the house in measured steps since his debut show in October 2025. According to Kuwait Times, this is the designer’s third ready-to-wear collection for Chanel. The same report notes that Chanel’s sales have grown at a time when many fashion houses have posted weak results, and that some of Blazy’s designs have sparked a wave of demand in stores dubbed “Blazymania”.
Why it matters
Chanel is one of the world’s largest luxury fashion houses, and the codes it presents each season, such as the tweed jacket, the skirt suit and the quilted bag, set the direction for the industry as a whole. Blazy’s strong start to his second year shows that the effort to bring the founder’s story out of the archive and adapt it to today’s woman continues. Details such as knee-length skirts and stretch tweed may well turn up in ready-to-wear brands’ collections in the coming months.
Seen from Turkey, Chanel’s classic codes such as tweed and pearls are a constant point of reference for local designers and fast fashion alike. You can find the dates of all of the season’s fashion weeks, Paris first among them, in our Fashion Week Calendar 2026-2027 guide.
Sources
- FashionUnited — Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week presentation (video)
- Hürriyet Daily News (AP) — Matthieu Blazy’s new Chanel collection
- Kuwait Times (AFP) — Blazy’s bird-themed Chanel show
Image: The glass roof of the Grand Palais in Paris (representative image) — Remi Mathis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
