There is a moment of suspense between the runway and the boutique that everyone in the fashion industry knows well, but rarely discusses out loud. It is the interval between the spectacle — the lights, the applause, the social media fodder — and the reality of the fitting room, the wait lists, and the credit card.
In Paris, amid the FW26 ready-to-wear shows, the first creations from the newly appointed creative directors are arriving in stores. And what one observes in the boutiques reveals far more about business strategy than any trend analysis ever could. The context, it should be noted, is challenging: the recovery in the luxury sector is slower than anticipated, while global conflicts — most recently war in the Middle East — keep some key spenders away.
But last Thursday, when Matthieu Blazy’s first Chanel creations began arriving at stores across Paris, the city’s fashion scene was abuzz. Editors, celebrities, and other influential figures swarmed the brand’s boutiques in between shows, trying to get their hands on the spring ready-to-wear collectsion.
“I haven’t seen people this excited about shopping in as long as I can remember. I happened to be popping by Le Bon Marché on Friday, when Paloma [Elsesser] and I saw they had the shoes and I was so excited that I audibly gasped and immediately bought the pair I’d been obsessed with since the show: the glossy black croc-stamped pumps,” said editor and luxury consultant Olivia Singer after she was seen sporting a Chanel shopping bag at the Mugler show later that day.
“Matthieu mania is clearly underway, and the collectsion looks even better in person,” says Lynne Bredfeldt, Nike’s global senior director of sportswear, energy, and entertainment communications, who was also in Paris last week. She was looking for a pair of mint green embossed croc pumps, though that color wasn’t available at the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré location where she began her hunt. The sales associate let her know they’d arrive at Le Bon Marché the following day, where she ended up scoring a pair.
The full breadth of colors was to be found at the historic Rue Cambon store, which drew the biggest crowds upon the collectsion drop. Bredfeldt stopped in to check out the selection and spotted new Chanel ambassador Bhavitha Mandava shopping. “It really felt like a new day,” Bredfeld remarked. Model Amelia Gray and Meta’s Eva Chen were also seen in the stores. The latter described the atmosphere on the day of the new collectsion arriving at Rue Cambon as a “first day of school energy”.
“I’ve never seen such frenzy and fracas when all the editors are shopping, since Alessandro Michele’s debut collectsion for Gucci a decade ago. All the Americans were there, all the Asians were there, and the clients were there. The dressing rooms were packed,” added editor and luxury customer Bryanboy, who has been going back to the boutique almost every day since Thursday, because they are restocking.
While queues didn’t stretch outside, inside was busy, and shoppers reported wait times up to 60 minutes to be paired with a sales associate. Without signing up to shop with an associate, customers could only browse. Water and madeleines were served to those waiting.
“I’m obsessed with the shoes, and with this slightly menswear vibe they bring. Even if it’s not immediately recognizable as the Chanel we are used to, it remains unmistakably Chanel. I bought quite a lot, but mostly the workwear pieces — the short-cropped tailoring blazers, which I thought were brilliant, paired with the wrap skirts and the mint-and-black shoes,” remarked a VIC who wished to remain anonymous. She had no wait because she had a store appointment scheduled in advance.
Elle editor-in-chief Nina Garcia was also seen trying on the taupe pumps with white tips, the spiky camellia earrings, which appear to be smaller than the runway version, and one of the cropped blazers. Other highly sought-after items included the chain-strapless bags, the mini croco-embossed totes, and the 2.55 bag revisited by Blazy. The latter appeared crumpled on the runway but can, in fact, be smoothed out and returned to normal. The VICs we spoke to were thrilled to discover that what seemed like a conceptual piece turned out to be wearable.
A big standout was the long-sleeve shirt developed in partnership with Charvet, the Parisian shirtmaker of Place Vendôme. It’s a cotton shirt with a simple “Chanel” embroidery at the hem. It cost €3,900 and is sold out. Ask for the version with a plastron, or the pink one, and the laughter of a sales associate is the most eloquent answer you will receive.
“We haven’t seen this in a very long time. It’s been difficult to keep up with the demand,” a sales associate at Rue Cambon could barely conceal her astonishment.
“I don’t think Chanel forecasted the consumer response to Matthieu’s superb show; it was quite a challenge to buy things that one wants because of the limited availability of many items. Whether it was a deliberate decision by Chanel or not, one thing is for certain — the collectsion was such a success,” Bryanboy said.
The house explained to Vogue Business: “We are at the very beginning of this collectsion’s presence in stores, with a strong reception for certain pieces. This mainly reflects the enthusiasm it is generating. Availability will then evolve naturally as the collectsion rolls out and new deliveries arrive.” The house also noted strong enthusiasm from both loyal clients and new customers continues the positive response seen at last October’s runway show.
“I loved the show in the fall and immediately had my eye on the soft lambskin sock heels and the slouchy “fits a laptop” flap bags. It’s a testament to the desirability of his first collectsion that just about everything I wanted was sold out,” Chen added.
Some shoppers reported a limit on the number of bags they could get. Asked about quotas on bags, Chanel said: “Some pieces are particularly sought after, which can indeed limit their availability at a given time. Our teams in the boutiques support our clients in a personalized way, as always, based on the pieces available and their wishes. Our policy regarding bags remains unchanged. We remain attentive to certain purchase volumes in order to preserve a consistent experience for our clients and to avoid purchases intended for resale.”
Undeniably, launching the collectsion during Paris Fashion Week generated excitement. “It’s quite remarkable that Matthieu has provoked such intense joy in so many people; my group chats are unhinged,” said Singer. “But if we can’t expect the fashion-week crowd to go crazy about fab new clothes and shoes, then who can we expect to?”
Mario Ortelli, managing partner of Ortelli & Co, concurred: “Launching the collectsion first in Paris during fashion week — where the opinion makers converge — contributes to driving exclusivity.”
The definitive verdict has yet to arrive. Chanel typically publishes its annual earnings in the spring, when management will likely provide comment on the early response to Blazy’s collectsion in the stores. Next, the collectsion will be made available to the rest of the world, including the US, Chanel’s largest market, and the UK, starting March 13. But the signals from Parisian boutiques during this fashion week proved that the real debut happens when the client opens the door to the store.
Expect guests at the show tonight to be wearing SS26.
Additional reporting by Elektra Kotsoni and Madeleine Schulz
