Chanel MÉTIERS D'ART 2026 Celebrates Craft, Cinematic Allure & New York Energy

For Gabrielle Chanel, America was first and foremost a myth: the little orphan girl had concocted a story where her father had gone across the Atlantic to make a fortune, a fantasy that Coco would keep up her entire life. But this imaginary continent would soon become very real: on the eve of World War I, Chanel's modernist and liberated designs caught the attention of the American press, her collections were discussed, appreciated, and photographed.

In 1924, No 5 perfume landed on American shores and swept up women of the New World in its wake. In 1931, she crossed the Atlantic for the first time and arrived in New York, where she boarded a train headed to the West Coast. Soon, she had Hollywood under her spell as she dressed the likes of Barbara Weeks, Madge Evans, and Gloria Swanson.

Cut to the present, and Chanel's newly appointed artistic director, Matthieu Blazy, rekindled this cinematic association with his thrilling debut Métiers d’art collection showcased in the decommissioned Bowery station of the J and Z lines.

Originally, movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn’s uptown fashion aims were the impetus for this filmic association with Chanel. Yet it was in downtown NYC rather than in Hollywood that Gabrielle Chanel regained her confidence in Chanel’s democratic, global appeal. Just before her journey back to Paris, she discovered those downtown who had adopted the Chanel style in their own way. She found this pop celebration of her clothing to be the sincerest form of flattery.

A Love Letter to the Big Apple

“The New York subway belongs to all. Everyone uses it: there are students and gamechangers; statesmen and teenagers. It is a place full of enigmatic yet wonderful encounters, a clash of pop archetypes, where everyone has somewhere to go, and each is unique in what they wear. Like in the movies, they are the heroes of their own stories,” noted Matthieu Blazy in a press note.

The New York City subway is the great leveller; as there is no hierarchy here, the subway is a microcosm of New York and a metaphor for fashion itself. One can always expect drama around every corner and a fascination for who one might bump into. Here it is Chanel’s ‘sub(way)-culture’ where the ordinary becomes the extraordinary, with the aid of the Maisons d’art.

Theatrical and craft-led, the collection, comprising 80 strong and distinctive looks, celebrated a vibrant cavalcade of personalities. From society figures to superheroes to working girls and showgirls to the ladies who lunch and chic mamas on the go, each seen through a cinematic lens – including Coco Chanel herself. All in all, a poetic love letter to the Big Apple, raising a toast to its inherent grit and glamour.

Symbolism Meets Savoir-faire

The collection transcended eras and time zones from the 1920s to the 2020s - from Art Deco exuberances to a new silken lounge reality, an OMG epiphany-inducing merging of periods and personas narrated a non-linear tale with the crafts of the Métiers d’art at its heart.

Pert and nimble, cerebral and sensually charged, a love story between Paris and New York unravelled, one of the exceptional savoir-faire of the Maisons d’art of le19M reconciled with the pow! of pop impact. Each piece was an artistic tribute to the layered symbolism and emotion of the time-honoured craftsmanship the house epitomises. In this jingle-jangle of elevated craft and pop culture, an elegantly witty high-style took birth.

Blazy proposed ‘Lingerie denim’, which came kissed with complex embroideries, evoking a new-age dressing. An archive Art Deco dress was recontextualised and embroidered by Lesage with fringed feather work by Lemarié – this new school flapper chooses to wear hers with illusion chinos; the motif of the men’s shirt was once more revisited and weighted with a Chanel chain, this time, lumberjack flannel was evoked in a sumptuous wool boucle tweed. Coquettish mutations abounded, as well as hidden personal pleasures for the wearer.

Minaudières came inhabited with hidden meanings – that oyster had a pearl inside – as well as more obvious mischievous intent in the shape of enamelled monkey nuts and apples, the tourist trinket exalted. They joined a dazzling array of jewellery, from ice cube glass cabochons to deco hummingbirds, crafted by the goldsmiths of Goossens. While a multiplicity of silk linings from hand-painted designs featured motifs of the city, even Coco Chanel walking her dog with the backdrop of the famous New York skyline.

A Manic Mashup of Eras and Influences

Each Chanel model embodied a specific New York energy and vibe - she could be domestic, mystical, or mythical. Was she a cat lady or a cat woman? Whichever she was, she was dressed in an elegant slubbed leopard tweed, specially commissioned and handwoven from Lesage. A leopard fascinator from the milliners of Maison Michel was one of the high points. The line-up offered something drool-worthy for every taste - from a short, sharp black Chanel suit styled with a classic black leather flap bag with golden scales inlaid to the hand-painted leopard-patterned tulip skirt.

According to the press note, the fringing alone on each petal took the artisans several days to come to life. A bias-cut 1930s slip embroidered with a multitude of shimmering fish – an Art Deco motif – layered yet lithe, was achieved by the artisans at Atelier Montex. Moreover, the hand-crafted classic slingbacks of Massaro evoked instant desirability.

Each ensemble was crafted with precision, exactitude, and deep meaning and lent itself to multiple interpretations. Blazy offered a mouth-watering invitation to play dress up - mixing colours, clashing textures, and amping up the drama with kicky accessories, thereby evoking the adventurous yet streamlined mood board of Coco Chanel.