Chanel let the light in for fall 2025. As the fashion world eagerly awaits the arrival of the new creative director, Matthieu Blazy, next month, the in-house Creation Studio sent out a lovely collection this morning which reminded us that the maison is equally adept at founder Gabrielle Chanel’s iconic bouclé tailoring—for which it is best known—and flou. The invitation offered a clue to this softer focus: a black bow accompanied by an enigmatic note that read “Tied, loose or floating in the wind, the Chanel ribbon sets an allure in motion.”
Arriving at the Grand Palais, it was clear that the Coco-fied guests milling about snapping selfies by a giant curlicue sculpture that swirled upwards towards the glass vaulted ceiling understood the assignment, dressed as they were in tweed skirt suits with their invitation ribbons tied in the hair or affixed to collars and purse straps. The ribbons were made by Lemarié, the Chanel-owned specialized handcraft atelier that provides the house with its silk flowers, featherwork, and other types of textile embellishments, and which has taken on a new vitality under the artistic direction of Christelle Kocher, who made her name with the couture-meets-streetwear brand Koché.
The opening series of nine tailleur looks draped in diaphanous flounced capes, puff-sleeve blouses, and floaty tiered skirts made of illusion tulle set the tone for a collection that beautifully counterposed hard and soft. The styling helped skirt suits and pantsuits that otherwise looked like they meant business take on a dreamy, ethereal quality. Later on in the lineup, a white blouse with voluminous sleeves and a high ruffled collar—of the type the maison’s longtime creative director Karl Lagerfeld himself favored—peeked out from underneath a sleek blazer dress. Other tweedy looks, meanwhile, sprouted frills at collars and cuffs.
Even the tailoring itself had a more fluid quality. Standouts included the Blade Runner meets Belle de Jour high-gloss trenchcoats and separates sprouting pussy bows and ruffles, as well as fresh takes on the classic three-piece suit. A bouclé cropped jacket teamed with a midi wrap skirt and flared trousers seemed to offer comfort and easy mobility, ditto a gilet paired with a miniskirt-topped slit-front maxi skirt. Also excellent were trompe l’oeil silks printed to look like tweeds, as well as chiffon “jeans” that floated jellyfish-like around the body. Like the soundtrack which juxtaposed strings with electronic beats, the collection felt both timeless and thoroughly of the moment. In other words, very Chanel.
