Chanel is always one of the most highly anticipated outings on the Paris Couture Week calendar, and Matthieu Blazy certainly didn’t disappoint this past season. For fall/winter 2026-27, Blazy made sure the follow-up to his first couture outing for the maison felt less like a collection presentation and more like a storybook brought to life.
Chanel incorporated the mythical plant from the English fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk into its haute couture fall/winter 2026-27 show. Photo: Handout
Staged at the Grand Palais, the show turned the Salon d’Honneur into a fairy-tale landscape of giant flowers, hanging chairs, climbing vines and oversized vases, with a watercolour painter live-sketching the scene as the show was under way.
A model wears a tweed hat at Chanel’s haute couture fall/winter 2026-27 show in Paris in July. Photo: ReutersBlazy’s inspiration came from a fairy-tale book discovered in Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s library, and the collection leaned into that sense of whimsy. “I started to wonder, was Gabrielle Chanel’s life a fairy tale?” Blazy wrote in his show notes. “[I] asked myself if, together with the haute couture ateliers, we could make garments that tell stories like a book.”
The fairy tale-themed presentation marked Matthieu Blazy’s sophomore haute couture collection for Chanel. Photo: HandoutThe opening looks set the tone with sheer, reimagined suits in checks. When you look closely, you’ll see the checks are in fact rendered in three-dimensional braided ropes. Floral appliqués were used liberally across skirts, suits and dresses, while the accessories took on a more playful note with bean- and animal-shaped minaudières which married fashion and jewellery.
A look from the Chanel haute couture fall/winter 2026-27 collection. Photo: Handout
Following drop-waist column dresses came airy lingerie-inspired pieces in soft hues. Translucent fabrics, flowing skirts, and cuts that bared the skin in all the right places conjured an array of fairy-like silhouettes which looked elegant and ethereal while channelling a childlike sense of wonder.
Translucent fabrics in soft hues became ethereal dresses at Chanel. Photo: Handout