Designer change at Chanel: Is the Lagerfeld era finally coming to an end?

For months there has only been one topic in the fashion world: Who will take the helm at Chanel? After the departure of Virginie Viard, Lagerfeld’s long-time assistant, names such as Hedi Slimane, John Galliano and Simon Porte Jacquemus were highly talked about. The Row designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were also in conversation. The Wertheimers are involved in their brand and the family also owns Chanel. But now the Parisian couture house has announced: Matthieu Blazy has landed the most coveted job in the industry.

The designer with Belgian-French roots may be unknown to many outside the fashion world, but he made a big name for himself as creative director at Bottega Veneta. In 2021 he started with the Italian luxury brand, his shows were considered the most sought-after and best of Milan Fashion Week. Blazy not only played with trompe l’oeil effects by making leather dresses look like jeans or raffia, he also knew how to reinterpret the brand’s codes, such as the braided leather. It was so successful that Bottega Veneta is the only luxury label in the Kering Group that was able to significantly increase sales in the last quarter of 2024. Completely different from its sister brands Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga.

Blazy now has to prove his skills at Chanel, a brand that is significantly bigger than Bottega Veneta. He will not only design ready-to-wear collections for them, but also couture. “I am convinced that he will be able to play with the codes and heritage of the house through a continuous dialogue with the studio, our ateliers and our Maisons d’Art,” says Bruno Pavlovsky, president of the fashion division of Chanel.

To be successful, Blazy doesn’t just have to incorporate the brand’s typical symbols – the curved CC logo, pearls and the camellia flower – into his designs. His job is to rethink the brand and turn it on its head. His predecessor Virginie Viard was at Karl Lagerfeld’s side for more than 30 years and successfully continued the design language after his death in 2019. Sales recently rose by 75 percent during her creative period, and in 2023 Chanel was able to increase annual earnings by 16 percent to 18 billion euros. Nevertheless, the brand was recently considered dusty, with Viard as Lagerfeld’s inheritance manager.

Blazy’s fashion must therefore be the antithesis of Lagerfeld and Viard. Not an easy task. The designer Hedi Slimane also showed this when he took over the creative management of Celine. The Frenchman, who previously worked at Dior Homme and whose slim-fit suits Karl Lagerfeld once lost 42 kilos of, followed Phoebe Philo in 2018. She had shaped the brand with her anti-sex looks, a style that was well received by many confident and successful women. Slimane, on the other hand, opted for a radical change of course: He not only introduced a men’s line, but also shaped Celine into a rock-cool hipster brand with LA vibes. In doing so, he scared away many Celine customers, but at the same time established the label among a young, affluent target group.

Blazy’s change of course will certainly be less harsh; the designer is considered extremely sensitive. He will present his first collection next fall. But it is already clear: Chanel will be the hottest brand in 2025.

Bruno Pavlovsky is even sure that Coco Chanel would have been happy with Blazy’s appointment. In an interview with the New York Times, he told author and fashion luminary Vanessa Friedman: “She probably would have found Matthieu nicer than Karl.”