Couture season keeps delivering and, on January 27, 2026, all eyes turned to Matthieu Blazy for his highly anticipated Spring 2026 Couture debut at Chanel. The whimsical theme was hinted at from the start: the invitations featured a delicate mushroom pendant dangling from a necklace. That hint became reality as the Grand Palais transformed into a mushroom-studded wonderland – a couture champignon moment, where fantastical fungi sprouted along the runway, setting a surreal stage for Blazy’s imaginative vision.
Image courtesy: Chanel
The oversized fungi from the runway set found their echo in the Couture gowns themselves. Silhouettes ballooned and flowed with undulating pleats, while transparency and layered fabrics added a sense of lightness and ease. Birds emerged as a defining motif across the collection, expressed through texture and movement rather than literal imagery. As Chanel describes it:
“First, transparency and muslin. The CHANEL suit as a second skin, revealing the inner life of the wearer. Then come the birds. Of all colours, shapes and horizons. With them, a simple, joyful idea: freedom.”
Soft, airy feathers, intricate beadwork, embroidery, and appliqué appeared throughout, evoking flight and freedom. Rather than acting as mere decoration, these elements felt integral to the garments, harmonizing with the body and movement to create pieces that were both sculptural and alive.
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
While handbags didn’t dominate the runway, they appeared thoughtfully throughout the early looks, with just seven bags in total. A single style was repeated in several shades, reinforcing a restrained approach. Much like Jonathan Anderson’s approach for his Dior couture debut, Blazy used accessories to extend the narrative of each outfit, allowing bags to feel like natural extensions of the garments rather than afterthoughts.
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
At its core, the bag reads as a familiar icon: the Chanel 11.12 Classic Flap, reimagined through a couture lens. Rendered in an ethereal, ghost-like fabric that appears to be silk organza, its sheer construction echoed the transparency threaded throughout the collection’s garments. Completely devoid of hardware, it reads as light and airy, and almost ethereal. Whether conceived as a fully functioning handbag or a purely poetic accessory to Haute Couture remains ambiguous.
Despite its delicate exterior, the Maison’s most recognizable codes are meticulously preserved. The structure of the iconic Classic Flap is traced through perfectly stitched lines that mimic quilting, while the unstructured outer layer reveals an interior just as considered. A soft drape of fabric mimics the double-flap construction, complete with a stitched interlocking CC, while the Mona Lisa smile pocket at the back appears intact.
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
Image courtesy: @declanchan
Image courtesy: @declanchan
In place of a traditional chain strap, reinforced stitched eyelets allow for a braided thread strap woven with metallic gold to mimic the hardware. The bag appeared in a restrained color palette – nude pink, red, pale blush, light blue, black, and light beige. However, the standout was a check version finished with frayed edges, a subtle nod to Chanel’s bouclé jackets.
Styled with what looked like silk scarves or handwritten notes spilling from within, the bag invited interpretation. Perhaps these embroidered fragments tucked inside the translucent bags hint at Gabrielle Chanel’s love letters with Boy Capel.
Image courtesy: Vogue Runway
Image courtesy: @sophiefontanel
Image courtesy: @sophiefontanel
Whether seen as functioning or a fleeting flourish, Blazy’s Chanel accessories captured the imagination, reflecting the lightness, transparency, and playful poetry of his Haute Couture debut.
Read related articles:
Are These the Most Daring Dior Bags Ever Made?
The First Chanel Bags of the Blazy Era are Here
Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel Spring-Summer 2026 Debut: New Codes, New Bags, New Chanel
Everything You Need to Know About the Chanel 25 Bag
Chanel Métiers d’Art 2026: New Bags, New York Energy
Why Matthieu Blazy is the Perfect Fit for Chanel
Will Matthieu Blazy Bring These Bottega Modern Classics to Chanel?
6 Covetable Hermès Bags from the Spring-Summer 2026 Runway
Love, PurseBop
XO
Updated: January 28th, 2026
Comments