Why Matthieu Blazy Is the Perfect Selection for Chanel (Critic’s Pocket book)

At last it’s official, the most coveted job in fashion has been filled: Matthieu Blazy, formerly the creative director of Italian label Bottega Veneta, has been named the artistic director of Chanel, effective early next year. The 40-year-old, Paris-born designer will oversee creation of all haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections for the house, which was founded by Coco Chanel in 1913.

Why is overseeing Chanel considered the plum position in global fashion? The brand remains a privately held company in a luxury industry that has experienced a merger mania in recent years. It’s also undeniably at the top of today’s respected houses: Gucci or Louis Vuitton may be hotter or buzzier with the public, but Chanel, which posted supremely healthy 2023 revenues of $19.7 billion, revels in its quiet reputation as the pinnacle of fashion, and that isn’t expected to change anytime soon. Chanel owners Alain and Gérard Wertheimer — whose grandfather, Pierre, went into business with Coco when he purchased 70 percent of her house in 1924 — also have steadfastly refused any notion of selling the brand, bringing on a partner or taking the brand public. The arrangement allows Blazy the freedom to create without having to keep one eye focused on the latest stock price. (If that attitude sounds mercenary, consider some 2022 headlines about shelved movies at Warner Bros.)

“Matthieu Blazy is one of the most gifted designers of his generation,” said Chanel’s global executive chairman Alain Wertheimer and global CEO Leena Nair in a joint statement released Thursday. “His vision and talent will reinforce the energy of the brand and our position as a leader in luxury. Under Bruno Pavlovsky’s leadership, we are confident that Matthieu Blazy will continue to shape what’s next and write a new page in Chanel’s creation.”

Blazy will report to Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel Fashion and subsidiary Chanel SAS, who likewise extolled the designer’s virtues on Thursday. “I am delighted to welcome Matthieu Blazy,” he said. “I am convinced that he will be able to play with the codes and heritage of the house, through an ongoing dialogue with the studio, our ateliers, and our maisons d’art. His audacious personality, his innovative and powerful approach to creation, as well as his dedication to craftsmanship and beautiful materials, will take Chanel in exciting new directions.”

Corporate-speak aside, Blazy is a terrific choice who brings talent, pedigree and gravitas to his new position. His designs for Bottega Veneta undeniably elevated that brand’s visibility and perception among fashion fans and Hollywood alike, with a focus on handwork and a sense of modernity that’s also fluid and accessible. Then again, other than Bottega’s celebrated handbags, who aside than the most diligent style students could pinpoint the codes of that house? Chanel will be a bigger stage with a brighter spotlight, and an audience that’s exceedingly well-versed in even the most minute details of its DNA. Yet Blazy, who graduated from La Cambre, a visual-arts school in Brussels, interned for Balenciaga and John Galliano, worked at Maison Margiela and later for Raf Simons at Calvin Klein and Phoebe Philo at Céline, seems more than up to the task.

And while it may seem like a minor point, that Blazy was born and raised in Paris brings a wonderful symmetry and sense of that city’s heritage to his appointment. That detail never concerned the German-born Karl Lagerfeld, of course, but the man who oversaw Chanel between 1983 and his death in 2019 was too busy turning the house into the style juggernaut it is today to be concerned about whether his own heritage mattered. Blazy’s predecessor, Virginia Viard, who was Lagerfeld’s studio director before being named his successor, which ended with her departure in early June, was born in Lyon and likewise brought her own French sensibility to the house. Blazy now presents an opportunity for a reset, as a Parisian man at the Parisian house with a reputation and name recognition unlike any other.

Of course, these days, does it matter that Blazy is, indeed, a man? It’s unquestionable that the fashion industry overall is facing a dearth of women designers in high-profile roles. That’s a problem that requires a deeper and wider conversation to solve. Chanel’s focus clearly was on the best person for the job, and as someone lucky enough to have interviewed Lagerfeld on several occasions, I can picture him scoffing at the idea that a man shouldn’t helm a house built by a woman. Blazy’s personal and artistic sensibilities also make it clear that, like Lagerfeld and Viard, he will honor the ideas that trailblazing, feminist women made both famous and acceptable for women of the early 20th century.

Perhaps most delightfully for Hollywood — which increasingly values red-carpet appearances — Blazy already has established himself as an industry favorite, and surely that will carry over to his new gig. A brief and incomplete rundown of stars Blazy has created red-carpet looks for recently: Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Michelle Yeoh, Elle Fanning, Jennifer Lawrence, Pamela Anderson, Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, Pedro Pascal, Nicholas Hoult and Jacob Elordi, who stars in Bottega Veneta’s latest campaign — and that list only covers the dressing announcements between October and early December. The latter section of the list also raises another key question: Might Blazy expand the availability of menswear at Chanel? The brand rarely has extended that category beyond one-off looks for Pharrell Williams and a select few others, but Blazy’s talent likewise presents opportunities to play in that arena.

And now we’re off to the races, from an attention point of view. The Golden Globe Awards take place Sunday, Jan. 5; the Critics Choice Awards are set for exactly one week later; and Paris Fashion Week for the Spring 2025 haute-couture collections is scheduled for Jan. 27-30. When will we see Blazy’s first Chanel design, and will it be on the runway or on a Hollywood star? Those questions will be answered exactly when the house decides, of course, but the anticipation will be at a level unlike any other recent fashion appointments.