Chanel Cruise 2027: Matthieu Blazy Takes Chanel to the Sea

At Chanel, escape has always been more than a seasonal idea. It is part of the house’s history. For his Cruise collection, Matthieu Blazy returned to that instinct and placed it on the coast of Biarritz, where Gabrielle Chanel once found distance from Paris and the freedom to imagine a new way of dressing.

The result was a collection shaped by air, water and movement. The mood was clear from the first looks: summer holidays, sun-warmed skin, clothes light enough to move with the body, Chanel mules and not a single unnecessary thought. Blazy’s Chanel Cruise 2027 was inspired by the sea, and more specifically by the fantasy of the mermaid, but the reference was handled with precision, not costume.

Biarritz gave the collection its context. Far from Paris, it was the place where Gabrielle Chanel and the French artists of the early twentieth century came to escape the noise of the capital. It was also where Chanel first began to think seriously about opening her couture house and freeing women’s wardrobes from the restrictions that had defined fashion before her. For Blazy’s Cruise 2027 collection, that history became a setting, not a footnote.

The show unfolded against a live soundscape. Models walked to the rhythmic pulse of waves, the calls of seagulls and the sounds of sea creatures. It was not simply a marine theme placed over clothes. The sea entered the pacing of the show, the textures of the garments and the way the collection moved.

Although Blazy has previously used Chanel’s legendary logo with restraint, here the double C had a stronger presence. It appeared across several looks, including on the skirt and jacket worn by house ambassador Bhavitha Mandava, as well as on knitted polos and sweater collars. The logo was visible, direct and fully integrated into the collection’s summer vocabulary.

One of the most memorable details was the return of vintage-style swim caps. Seen up close, the collection began to resemble a marine ecosystem. Shell earrings sat tightly against the ear, as if the models were carrying the sound of the sea with them.

Mesh fabrics, gill-like motifs translated into jewellery and spiked headpieces recalling sea urchins added to the underwater language of the collection. The models’ lashes, designed with a fishlike delicacy, completed the effect without pushing it into literal fantasy.

The newspaper print also returned to the runway, worn by Georgian model Nastasia Legrand-Babluani. Its graphic quality gave the collection a sharper rhythm before the show moved into a luminous finale. Instead of relying on traditional heavy tweed, Blazy focused on sequins, shine and reflective surfaces. Coral, gold and emerald tones transformed the models into creatures of the deep, mysterious but controlled.

The front row reflected the significance of the show. A$AP Rocky arrived with a pink bag, while Nicole Kidman, Sofia Coppola and Marion Cotillard were seated nearby. Their presence added to the sense that this was more than a seasonal presentation. It was the first clear public reading of Blazy’s Chanel.

By the end, the collection left behind a feeling of movement and freedom. It had the lightness of a summer escape, but also the structure of a house reintroducing itself. In Biarritz, Chanel offered a preview of the season ahead and, through Blazy’s eye, appeared to rediscover part of its own spirit.

As the show closed, the sound of seagulls came through the speakers, followed by a Leonardo DiCaprio quote from The Beach. The message was almost too perfect for the moment: Chanel had gone to the sea, and for one afternoon, fashion followed.