For autumn winter 2026 at Chanel, creative director Matthieu Blazy turned to one of the house’s oldest ideas: transformation. The collection was framed by a quote from founder Gabrielle Chanel comparing fashion to the life cycle of a butterfly. Her words, “Be a caterpillar by day and a butterfly by night,” opened the collection notes — a simple but evocative reminder that clothing can be both practical and expressive, grounded in reality yet capable of fantasy. Blazy took this contrast as his starting point.
“Chanel is a paradox. Chanel is function, Chanel is fiction. Chanel is sensible, Chanel is seductive. Chanel is day, Chanel is night. It represents the freedom to choose between the caterpillar and the butterfly whenever you want. I wish to create a canvas for women to be unapologetically who they are and who they want to be,” he wrote. The collection unfolded as a response to that idea — a wardrobe designed to move easily between practicality and fantasy; day to night.
The show began with the familiar codes of Chanel: tailoring and tweed. But the enduring Chanel skirt suit felt newly flexible here, imagined by Blazy in both relaxed and traditional forms — some with zippers replacing the house’s classic buttons, others more sharply. Fabric played a key role in shaping this contrast. Some suits were rendered in ribbed knits that bordered on loungewear, while others were constructed from intricate fabrics threaded with subtle strands of lurex that caught the light as the models moved.
Blazy also expanded the vocabulary of Chanel tailoring by continuing his ongoing fascination with the work shirt — a motif first introduced in his debut Spring Summer 2026 collection. This time, the shirts appeared layered beneath jackets and often worn untucked, lending the looks an easy, almost nonchalant attitude. They also helped carry the collection through time. As silhouettes shifted, so too did the decades they referenced — moving from the loose, insouciant spirit of the 1920s to the polished structure of the 1950s and the cleaner, more graphic lines of the 1960s.
As the collection progressed, another shift occurred — this time from day into evening. A sense of iridescence began to appear, with cascading drop-waist dresses and skirt suits cut in fluid silhouettes that seemed designed for motion. Colours became more vibrant, too from vibrant primary colours to softer, silkier pinks, oranges, blues and yellows. Embellishment caught and reflected the light as models moved, reinforcing the collection’s central theme of transformation — the moment when the caterpillar gives way to the butterfly.
Accessories continued that conversation between the practical and the fantastical. Jewellery in enamel, resin and tinted mother-of-pearl introduced flashes of colour and shine, while pastel cap-toed boots hugged the leg like a second skin. Bags ranged from everyday classics, including a beige suede flap bag referencing the matelassé upholstery of Gabrielle Chanel’s apartment, to more playful pieces such as an iridescent pomegranate-shaped minaudière that leaned fully into the show’s sense of fantasy.
