Chanel’s Métiers d’Art 2026 show was an ode to New York City life by Matthieu Blazy

Dec 3 , 2025

The Chanel Metiers d’Art 2026 show took place in a former subway station in New York. Photo: Handout

It’s not the first time the French maison has presented a collection in the US – this time, Matthieu Blazy took guests, including ambassadors Margaret Qualley and A$AP Rocky, underground

When Chanel announced earlier this year that it would hold its Métiers d’Art 2026 show in New York, it was months before newly appointed creative director Matthieu Blazy would make his debut at the house.

His first collection for the storied maison, the spring/summer 2026 collection, ended up being the buzziest show of Paris Fashion Week in October and delivered a masterclass in how to reset a label and reinvent its codes while still staying true to its heritage. The show marked the start of a new era at Chanel and injected a much-needed dose of energy into the brand.

Unique to Chanel, the Métiers d’Art range pays homage to the maison’s ateliers, from embroiderer Lesage to milliner Maison Michel and shoemaker Massaro. The artisans of these legendary workshops are behind Chanel’s most intricate creations, including its one-of-a-kind haute couture garments.

Outfits made of frayed and shredded tweed were part of the line-up. Photo: Reuters

This is not the first time Chanel has debuted one of its collections in the US – which is the world’s largest luxury market and still growing, as Chanel’s president of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky explained in an interview the day before the show. Previous destinations have included Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York, where in 2018 the late Karl Lagerfeld conjured up an Egyptian fantasy at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Temple of Dendur in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, one of the city’s swankiest areas.

Blazy’s choice of location couldn’t have been more different. The French designer took guests, including house ambassadors Margaret Qualley and A$AP Rocky, literally underground.

Held in a formerly abandoned subway station in Manhattan’s Lower East Side – a historically immigrant neighbourhood that in recent decades has become one of the city’s epicentres of cool – the show was a celebration of New York’s vibrant city life.

Models walked on a subway platform clad in practical yet luxurious looks. Photo: Reuters

To tease the collection, Blazy enlisted French director Michel Gondry to film a video starring Qualley and A$AP Rocky. Set in downtown neighbourhoods like the East Village and SoHo, the clip is a surrealist take on Manhattan’s hustle and bustle, showcasing its diversity and energy. The show was a continuation of that carefree attitude.

In a post-show chat, Blazy called the collection “a celebration of New York”. He recalled how Gabrielle Chanel noticed on a trip to New York that many denizens of downtown Manhattan – not the typical Chanel customers – wore simple, practical clothes that had elements of her Parisian creations. That “breakthrough” inspired her to inject an element of reality into her own work.

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