Matthieu Blazy, a French-Belgian fashion designer, took on the role as artistic creative director of Chanel in late 2024. 

 Early in his career, Blazy started out with Maison Margiela, where he led the anonymous studio right after Margiela’s departure. He also worked under British fashion designer Phoebe Philo at Celine and eventually moved up the fashion pyramid as design director of Calvin Klein’s Women’s Ready-to-Wear under Raf Simons.

In 2021, he became the creative director for Bottega Veneta, where he demonstrated his creative talent as a designer and revitalized the brand through expanding its product lines, producing critically acclaimed collections and creating leather trompe-l’œil signature pieces.

Hosting the Métiers d’Art 2025 fashion show in an abandoned station between Bowery and the J/Z line, in a scenery familiar to millions of New Yorkers, sent the message that Chanel is for everyone. Blazy’s inspiration for the collection was very character-driven from the diversity he found in everyday commuters of all social classes in an ordinary New York City subway station.

Chanel typically hosts its fashion shows in grand, luxurious and iconic venues. From the Grand Palais in Paris, where there would be complete theme transformations, to private islands in Dubai, Chanel never disappoints with not just giving a show of its latest designs but an artistic experience too. Seeing a NYC train station be the runway for a fashion show was nothing but unexpected as iconic ideas were brought to life.

The abandoned Bowery station, typically used for filming, was transformed with fresh paint, steel benches and turnstiles that helped enhance NYC’s signature raw, tiled and metallic subway station.

The train that was a part of the show was used by models, who would emerge from it to act out the everyday transit commute. 

Strutting throughout the station, waiting against the post and feigning annoyance at their lateness, really demonstrated the transportation experience that inspired Blazy.

The newly announced brand ambassadors for Chanel, A$AP Rocky and Margaret Qualley, attended the show along with celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Jon Bon Jovi. 

In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily after the show, Qualley said, “I’ve been on the subway many times but I’ve never seen it like this. It was so glamorous, so New York and gorgeous.”

It seems to the fashion world that Chanel has entered a brand new iconic era with Blazy and his brilliance as its new artistic creative director.