His name was in competition with Hedi Slimane, Jeremy Scott, and even, following his recent departure from the creative direction of Maison Margiela, with John Galliano. After months of hypotheses and speculations, the enigma has been revealed: Matthieu Blazy has been the new creative director of Chanel since December 2024.
The French designer, who turned 40 this year, has a career focused on the refinement of cleanliness in design. Before establishing Bottega Veneta as a symbol of luxury and craftsmanship, Blazy, son of art historians, had his early experiences with Galliano, led the women's collection at Calvin Klein, and collaborated with Raf Simons and Phoebe Philo during his time at Celine. Now, at the fashion house founded by Coco Chanel, he will take on the task of continuing the work started by Virginie Viard, who left her position this summer after 20 years at the fashion house and four years leading its designs. Blazy will become the third designer in history entrusted with projecting Chanel's values into the future.
In October next year, his first creations for Chanel will grace the Parisian runway. He will guide the legacy of the fashion house to the spring-summer trends of 2026. With Blazy as the artistic director, the brand is ready - in the words of Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president, in an interview with Business of Fashion - "to be carried away".
Behind the scenes at Bottega Veneta, Louise Trotter will remain, who, before leading Carven, had orchestrated collections for Lacoste.
If no unexpected changes disrupt the end of the year, this latest round of musical chairs (and needles) will mark the end of one of the years with the highest turnover of creative directors in recent fashion history.