By Helen Reid
PARIS, Oct 5 (Reuters) – Chanel showed see-through skirts and tiger-print tweed in creative director Matthieu Blazy’s spring/summer 2027 collection on Monday as the Parisian fashion house rides a wave of enthusiasm that has helped drive sales even as other luxury brands struggle.
Since his first collection a year ago, Blazy’s designs — injecting youthful glitter and loud colour combinations into the Parisian label’s traditional tweed suits — have attracted new customers to the brand and kept Chanel stores buzzing with activity.
Front-row guests including Dua Lipa, Nicole Kidman, and Pedro Pascal arrived to throngs of cameras in the vast expanse of the Grand Palais. The glass dome roof was hung with a giant moon and a flock of luminescent seagulls, while the floor was laid in a Martian orange-and-green pattern in reflective resin.
Models emerged wearing skirt suits in sheer cream or black fabric embroidered with flowers and beads, and in tweed loosened into a wide windowpane print with mesh panels, or reworked in an eye-catching red-and-white tiger print.
“Chanel felt as alive as ever,” said Angélique Liautaud, womenswear buying and merchandising director at French department store Printemps. “The masculine wardrobe, the fluid dresses, the lingerie, the liberated body, brought a new sensuality to the house.”
Some skirts were sliced into swinging panels, others were shortened into pleated mini-skirts paired with cropped jackets showing the midriff. Hems were frayed or finished with metallic beading.
Models sported new versions of the brand’s two-tone pumps — in leopard print or tiger print with a cream toe, or baby blue and silver, while sandals were chunky with a large interlocking C logo in gold across the front. Quilted handbags came in black, burgundy, and white with a couple of wild variations in zebra print layered with clashing primary colours.
Blazy, known for soundtracking his shows to anthems from the 2000s, ran out to greet the crowd after the finale to the heavy synths of “Gimme More” by Britney Spears.
(Reporting by Helen ReidEditing by Rod Nickel)
