Matthieu Blazy’s First Chanel Cruise Show Channels Biarritz’s Spirit of Freedom

Today, the Chanel Cruise 2026/27 collection was presented in Biarritz, returning to the seaside city where Gabrielle Chanel established her couture house in 1915 and first defined the codes of modern elegance. For Matthieu Blazy—making his debut Cruise collection as Artistic Director of Fashion Activities—the location was both a point of origin and a proposition, grounding a new vision of the house in the spirit of freedom, movement, and effortless sophistication that first took shape along the Basque coast.

A Return to Biarritz, Where Chanel Began

Set against Biarritz’s windswept beaches and layered cultural history, the show echoed the conditions that shaped Gabrielle Chanel’s earliest innovations. It was here, away from the formality of Parisian salons, that she introduced jersey, reworked workwear fabrics like cotton and linen, and created clothing that allowed women to move with ease between indoors and out.

Blazy’s collection, titled “Sous le salon la plage,” builds on this idea—collapsing the divide between interior and exterior, between refinement and practicality. The presentation drew on the same interplay of worlds that defined Chanel’s early years in Biarritz, where artists, aristocrats, workers, and sailors coexisted in a shared cultural landscape.

Matthieu Blazy’s First Cruise Collection for Chanel

For his first Cruise outing, Blazy approached the Chanel vocabulary with a light but deliberate touch. The collection moved fluidly between references—French workwear, seaside leisure, and couture tradition—without privileging one over the other. Hierarchies dissolved: uniforms became eveningwear, and gowns carried the ease of day dressing.

The designer emphasized “different ways of being and seeing,” using clothing to suggest both functionality and imagination. The result was a collection that felt grounded yet expansive, anchored in Chanel’s heritage but open to reinterpretation.

From Salon to Beach: A New Fashion Language

At the core of the collection was a shift in perspective—from the structured salon to the openness of the beach. This transition informed silhouettes that were relaxed but intentional: flowing foulard ensembles, lightweight suiting in washed cotton canvas, and layered looks that could move seamlessly across settings.

The iconic black dress, introduced by Gabrielle Chanel in 1926, opened the show—revisited here with subtle updates that reinforce its enduring relevance. Originally a radical statement that blurred class distinctions, the dress remains a symbol of clarity and purpose, a throughline between past and present.

Throughout, the Basque stripe emerged as a recurring motif, threading together garments that balanced structure and spontaneity. The collection’s palette and materials—fluid silks, springy tweeds, raffia, and beaded knits—evoked the textures of the surrounding landscape, from the ocean’s surface to the shifting light along the shore.

Highlights from the Cruise 2026/27 Collection

Movement defined the collection’s strongest moments. Silk pieces fluttered in the breeze, raffia skirts rustled with each step, and shimmering paillettes suggested fish scales catching light. The bathing suit, too, played a central role, reinforcing the collection’s dialogue between dressing and undressing, between public and private space.

Blazy also introduced a sense of narrative play, weaving in references to mermaids and maritime life alongside more grounded elements like sailor uniforms and traditional French workwear. The effect was both poetic and practical—a balance that echoes Chanel’s earliest innovations.

Accessories, Textures, and the Spirit of Movement

Accessories extended the collection’s sense of journey. Bags ranged from compact valises to oversized striped beach paniers, while waterproof flap bags and holdalls underscored a readiness for movement. Footwear spanned polished Art Deco heels to minimal “heel caps,” blurring the line between barefoot ease and formal dressing.

Jewelry drew from both architecture and nature, pairing the geometric clarity of Art Deco with aquatic references like shell earrings and the house’s signature pearls. Even the double C motif was integrated with subtlety, functioning less as branding than as a structural element within the garments themselves.

In returning to Biarritz, Chanel not only revisits a foundational chapter in its history but reactivates it. Blazy’s Cruise 2026/27 collection reflects a house in motion—one that continues to evolve while remaining anchored in the principles that defined it: freedom, simplicity, and a deep connection to the world beyond the salon.