Chanel
A debut Métiers d’Art collection that transforms the Bowery subway station into a portrait of New York’s characters and craftsmanship.
For Matthieu Blazy’s first Métiers d’Art collection at Chanel, the house traded its traditional grand venues for something far more unexpected: an unused subway platform in Lower Manhattan. A place where the city unites, where everyone is on the same terms, but also a place where differences are most visible.
The show took place at the Bowery station - abandoned station in the Lower Manhattan. The station was carefully reimagined without erasing its raw character. Tiled walls, industrial lines, and the unmistakable geometry of New York tube.
“This collection is very character-driven,” he explained. “We have a journalist from the ’70s, we have the ’80s businesswoman who’s going to rule the world. And all those kinds of characters, they also have embroideries, but it needs to somehow match them. It needs to create an alchemy.”
The show opened with a real MTA train pulling into the station. Models stepped out in sequence and the platform shifted into a tableau of New York archetypes filtered through Chanel’s craftsmanship: tailored silhouettes softened with unexpected textures, tweeds in new proportions, shimmering evening pieces and intricate handwork designed.
Blazy’s vision of New York is rooted in its plurality. “When you take the subway in NYC, you truly never know who you’re going to meet,” he said. “Everyone takes the subway — from kids to students, to world leaders, people of every background. It’s almost like it’s the vortex of the city. It connects everything.”
A collection that felt contemporary without abandoning the codes of the house, and narrative-driven without leaning into costume. It was Chanel seen through the lens of a city that never stops reinventing itself. A confident and purposeful debut, marking a fresh chapter for Blazy’s tenure.
