Everyone knows how it is to be in the subway. You know, when there’s rush hour, and you have to squeeze so all the people can get in. When the air is a bit stuffy. When you have to hold on to these iron rods to not trip over as you enter the next stop. When you look around and you see people from all kinds of places around you. A couple hugging in one corner. A group of students on their way home. Maybe there’s an elderly man looking at his phone. A construction worker, still in work clothes, tired from a long day. Everyone has their own story. Everyone has a destination, and the subway is the place where everyone stands still and shares a space for this seemingly random moment inside the pulsating life of a big city. And to cut it short now, that’s exactly the vibe Matthieu Blazy was aiming for at his debut Métiers d’art collection at Chanel that was presented yesterday in New York.
“The New York subway belongs to all,” the maison’s Artistic Director of Fashion Activities (yes, that’s his exact title) says in the press notes for the 2026 show himself. It’s a surreal microcosm in which you can never be sure who you might meet, because he’s right. It’s a space that does belong to all, but at the same time, you will never be able to tell the stories of the people around you. You can only wonder where they might go, where they’re from. If they’re lonely or if they already saw the new season of Stranger Things. So, while everyone shares that space, it becomes mystical, mythical, and whimsical, even, if you want. There’s drama hidden behind every corner. Emotions like annoyance and impatience, joy and sadness, danger and safety silently linger around.
So, what Blazy did to capture this specific phenomenon of contemporary daily life is, yes, make A$AP Rocky propose to Margaret Qualley in a stunning short film, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a runway show that immerses us into a fashionable, chic urban jungle. A cavalcade of the domestic animals of the Big Apple, different characters and personalities walking down the runway. Superheroes and teens. Elegant ladies, hustling career girls, mothers, Coco Chanel herself or New York’s best socialites.
But before we dive deeper into these characters, you might be wondering, why New York? Glad you asked. Every Métiers d’Art show the French maison has presented since 2002 is a celebration of craftsmanship, of savoir faire and of the studios all collected under Chanel’s roof at le19M in Paris. You know, I’m talking about goldsmiths, milliners, weavers—all the incredibly detailed and talented minds and hands working in the background. Works that can’t be done by machines. It’s something in between ready-to-wear and haute couture, and for every Métiers d’Art show, the house chooses a different location in the world. Shanghai, for example, Dallas, Monte Carlo, London, Edinburgh, Rome, Salzburg, and Tokyo—places with a connection to Chanel’s history.
Therefore, the Métiers d’Art 2026 collection is also inspired by Coco Chanel’s time in New York in 1931. When she made her way around downtown, discovering people everywhere who had adapted her brand’s style in their own unique ways. The “sincerest form of flattery,” as the press notes phrase it. So, while the show’s setup obviously stages the democratic, downtown interpretation of Chanel, other details are cinematic, inspired by old Hollywood movies. There are Art Deco elements from the 1920s, the beginnings of the maison. Space Age boots from the 60s and the loungewear of the 2020s. It’s a non-linear time travel that still feels contemporary, and in the middle of it all is the extraordinary craftsmanship behind every single piece of clothing.
For example, a sharp black pinstripe suit worn by Alex Consani, paired with a brown trilby hat. An archive dress from the roaring 20s, reconfigured and embroidered by Lesage with fringed, soft, flowy feather work by Lemarié. There’s an elegant, slubbed, handwoven leopard tweed. A shiny orange dress, caressing the body like an artificial, surreal tiger. A black and white zebra ensemble. A black gown with a deep V-shaped décolleté, embellished with what seems like spider webs glowing from hundreds of tiny water drops in the morning mist. High feathery collars like a paradisiacal bird preparing for its mating dance. Or simply a floor-length layered skirt, shaped like the petals of a seductive, venomous flower.
And please, look at the details (!). Silk linings from hand-painted designs that feature New York’s famous skyline or Coco walking her dog. A black leather flap bag with golden scales inlaid like a gilded, magical alligator. Oysters with a pearl inside, enamelled monkey nuts and apples. Ice cube glass cabochons and hummingbirds crafted by Goossens. A scarf pointing up into the air, frozen in movement as if it were caught by the wind of the passing subway, and the best, maybe, cunty fascinators from the milliners of Maison Michel, shaped like cute but dangerous cat ears.
Is it Catwoman? Or a cat lady? Is the woman in the checkered skirt and the brown fly-like sunglasses on her way to quit her job? The model with the knitted Superman-inspired pullover on her way to secretly save the world? I’m pretty sure one of them is on her way to a ballet performance at the opera house. The model in the black cloak with the huge bow looks like she’s ready to disappear in the dark mysteries of the city. On the other hand, the one in the red sequin dress and the big faux fur coat is on her way home from a long, wild party night, I guess. Again, we can just wonder, but that’s exactly what Blazy wanted us to do.
Some looks are definitely more realistic for daily life use; some are less. But who cares? And who decides what is practical? The collection is a celebration, an enchanting, exaggerated mirror of a modern woman, and at the same time brings back the Chanel magic we already know from Karl Lagerfeld’s era as creative director. But that doesn’t mean it’s the same visual language. No, it’s the creative storytelling that gives meaning to places that might seem boring on the first look but are actually spaces that connect all of us. Think about the Fall/Winter 2014 show inside a supermarket. The airport from Spring/Summer 2016. The autumn forest from Fall/Winter 2018 or even the beach set up at the Spring/Summer 2019 show.
Ok, all of them were staged inside the Grand Palais in Paris and not actually a real location, but the idea is kind of the same. And we love it, because narrative is fun, weirdly specific yet big enough to relate to it. The focus on craftsmanship reminds us to not see fashion as a product of waste, and it creates the global buzz around the brand that Blazy deserves, to be honest. So, after you've heard all this, take your time, and dive into all the embroidered fish scales, the alligators and birds, the tigers and zebras. But be careful; in the jungle you can easily get lost. The same in the subway station, just saying.
