Stumbling upon Les Fées, Contes des Contes in Gabrielle Chanel‘s personal library, Matthieu Blazy found the spark for his sophomore Chanel Haute Couture collection. The Artistic Director of Fashion Activities dedicated the show to “Gaby and the Beanstalk,” using the fairy tale as both a literal and metaphorical starting point.
“I started to wonder, was Gabrielle Chanel’s life a fairy tale?” Blazy asked himself. That question ultimately led to another: “Together with the Haute Couture ateliers, we could make garments that tell stories like a book.”
From last season‘s mushroom grove to this season’s enchanted landscape, the Grand Palais was transformed into an oversized storybook. Guests sat beneath towering flora and winding vines while oversized flowers, poisonous plants, and mythical creatures blurred the line between fantasy and reality. Like many classic fairy tales, the set hinted at darkness beneath the whimsy, softening their cautionary origins without losing their mystery. Even before the first look appeared, the shoes had already become one of the show’s biggest talking points.
Turning Fairy Tales Into Couture
Rather than recreating one specific story, Blazy flipped through an entire collection of fairy tales, suspending his garments somewhere between fiction and everyday life. Fantasy never overshadowed Chanel’s foundations. Instead, it became another tool through which to explore the house’s greatest strength: construction.
The collection remained deeply rooted in couture craftsmanship. Artisans at le19M collaborated across embroidery, fabric making, pleating, millinery, goldsmithing, and shoemaking, while the tailoring ateliers ensured every garment achieved the singular fit expected of Chanel Haute Couture. Tradition remained intact, but the thinking felt unmistakably contemporary.
Courtesy of Chanel.
Courtesy of Chanel.
The opening look—a Chanel suit in guipure—immediately established the narrative. Checkered beadwork scattered across delicate silk mousseline recalled the magic beans that captivated Blazy, their orderly grid resembling seeds planted beneath the earth, waiting to grow. In the model’s hand sat an original copy of Les Fées, Contes des Contes borrowed directly from Gabrielle Chanel’s apartment library.
Like the opening narration of a fairy tale, the collection unfolded one chapter at a time.
Where the Magic Lives
Courtesy of Chanel.
Courtesy of Chanel.
The details carried much of the storytelling. Vines crept up sculptural heels. A minaudière took the shape of a sleeping bear. Buttons evolved from ducklings into elegant swans. Green bean heels sprouted pearl seeds, while butterflies perched delicately on heels.
That sense of wonder extended inward as well. Painted silk linings remained hidden from everyone except the wearer, creating intimate moments of discovery. Charms, handwritten notes, trinkets, and personal keepsakes could be stitched into interiors, tucked into pockets, or suspended from delicate weighted chains. The magpie, collector of beautiful objects, became a recurring talisman throughout the collection.
Silhouettes shifted constantly through changing necklines, hemlines, fabrics, weaving techniques, embroidery, appliqué, and layered construction. Everyday objects were elevated, moving effortlessly between oversized floral fantasies and darker, more architectural tailoring with elongated proportions.
A New Chapter for Chanel Haute Couture
Courtesy of Chanel.
Courtesy of Chanel.
Tailoring remained central throughout the collection, preserving Gabrielle Chanel’s emphasis on movement and physical freedom. Slashed constructions and elongated silhouettes introduced motion into garments that never felt precious or static. The clothes were designed to be lived in, extending Chanel’s original mission of liberating women through fashion while opening a fresh, more whimsical chapter for the house.
The simplicity of many looks made their craftsmanship all the more striking. Rather than overwhelming with spectacle, Blazy allowed subtle details, refined construction, and modern proportions to quietly reshape familiar Chanel codes.
Courtesy of Chanel.
Courtesy of Chanel.
Gabrielle Chanel once famously said, “I created my life because my life did not please me.” That spirit of reinvention feels embedded throughout Blazy’s vision. His fairy tale is not one of fantasy for fantasy’s sake, but one where imagination becomes another way of rewriting reality.
As Blazy himself put it, “Haute Couture at Chanel is not just a fairy tale; in essence it is for women, their realities and their adventures of the everyday.”
With only his second Haute Couture collection, Blazy confidently turns the page toward a new era for Chanel—one where fairy tales are not an escape from reality, but a way of dressing for it.
Courtesy of Chanel.
Courtesy of Chanel.
