Chanel has appointed French Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy as its new artistic director of the house’s fashion activities, responsible for all haute couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections. The famed French fashion house made the announcement on Thursday, putting an end to months of intense speculation around the position described as the most coveted job in fashion.
“I am thrilled and honored to join the wonderful house of Chanel. I look forward to meeting all the teams and writing this new chapter together,” Blazy said in a statement.
Blazy, who joins from Bottega Veneta, has an impeccable track record, making him well suited to the role at Chanel, which involves designing 10 collections per year (two ready-to-wear, two couture, two pre-collections, one cruise, one Métiers d’art, as well as and two “tactical” lines: Coco Beach and Coco Neige).
Born in Paris in 1984, Blazy is a graduate of famed visual arts school La Cambre in Brussels. The 40-year-old had designer stints at both Raf Simons and Maison Margiela, where he earned his couture stripes designing the brand’s Artisanal line and gained recognition for his work. In 2014, he became senior designer at Céline, under Phoebe Philo, before reuniting with Raf Simons at Calvin Klein as VP of design for womenswear and menswear from 2016 to 2019. In 2020, he became Daniel Lee’s right hand at Bottega Veneta as design director. After Lee’s sudden exit, he was appointed creative director of Bottega Veneta in November 2021, where he won consistent acclaim for collections hinged on sophisticated, grown-up chic, and haute craftsmanship. In fact, in his three years leading Bottega Veneta, Blazy turned the brand’s show one of the hottest tickets in Milan.
Blazy is due to join Chanel in the first half of 2025, most likely in April, as he has to sit out the noncompete clause of his contract with his previous employer, Kering, which confirmed his departure on Thursday and named Louise Trotter his successor at Bottega Veneta. Blazy is expected to show his first collection for Chanel in October 2025.
He will report to Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel Fashion and Chanel SA, who views the appointment as a serious commitment.
“We hope to be together for 10, 15 years or more. We’re just at the start of our story,” says Pavlovsky. “Together we’ll be able to write a new chapter for the brand.”
“I am convinced that he will be able to play with the codes and heritage of the house, through an ongoing dialogue with the studio, our ateliers, and our maisons d’art,” Pavlovsky said. “His audacious personality, his innovative and powerful approach to creation, as well as his dedication to craftsmanship and beautiful materials, will take Chanel in exciting new directions.”
Blazy succeeds Virginie Viard, who exited Chanel last June after an uneven five-year tenure. He becomes only the fourth official creative director in the history of the 114-year-old brand, and follows on from Viard, Karl Lagerfeld and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.
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