There’s something quiet about endings. Not sad, just... intentional. That was the energy at Chanel’s Fall-Winter 2025/26 Haute Couture show, an elegant close to one of the maison’s longest-running creative cycles. Designed entirely by the in-house studio (the same team that worked under Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard), this marks their final collection, with Matthieu Blazy’s debut just around the corner.
It is not hard to guess what to expect from a Chanel couture show, although the surprises are always there. Ever since Karl Lagerfeld started staging them at the Grand Palais in 2005, the maison has gone all out, but this season, for the 110th anniversary of Chanel’s haute couture collections, they decided to change the game. Instead of the usual grand spectacle in the main nave of the Grand Palais, guests were directed upstairs to the Salon d’Honneur, exactly where Coco Chanel herself once showed her collections, which has been carefully restored to feel like stepping into one of the house’s archival photos. Mirrored walls, soft beige drapery, and gilded accents
The runway itself unfolded beneath 17th-century scrolls and champagne velvet drapery, setting a scene. There was nothing loud about the clothes, and that’s exactly what made them work. Long coats that flowed just right, sharp cuts softened by texture, and flat boots that grounded every look. Gabrielle Chanel’s beloved wheat, a symbol she held close, appeared throughout, woven into buttons, veils, and the tiniest embroidery.
The show opened in soft tones of ivory, cream, and moss, setting a calm mood. The silhouettes followed suit: long coats that floated, skirts, and jackets that looked both polished and lived-in. As things progressed, the colours deepened—plum, forest green, some black—giving the collection a bit more bite without ever losing that air of elegance. Feathers showed up in surprising ways, stitched into tweed or trailing down sleeves, and even the bouclé felt more like texture than statement. The final look? A bride in soft ivory, holding a clutch of golden wheat; simple, elegant, and unforgettable. It was all wearable but still couture, like Chanel.
Alongside the show, the house has also prepared a 450-page volume curated by Sofia Coppola, which traces the evolution of Chanel couture through archival images, campaigns, and behind-the-scenes moments from the atelier, all compiled into a tribute to everything that came before and everything that's shifting now.
So no, Chanel didn’t try to outdo itself before the big switch. It didn’t need to. This wasn’t about flash; it was about legacy. One last exhale before the next inhale.
