Chanel Métiers d’Art 2026 New York. Story by Eleonora de Gray, Editor-in-Chief of RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: CHANEL / Dan Lecca.

This year, Chanel’s Métiers d’Art 2026 took place in New York. Not the Guggenheim, not the Met, not even the Chrysler Building rooftop. No, Matthieu Blazy, new creative director, chose the subway. Yes, that subway — the graffitied, gum-stained, rat-frequented urban maze that smells like collective exhaustion and pretzel steam. A love letter to New York? Perhaps. But this was less “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and more “Lunch on the Q Train.”

From Couture to Commute

Blazy described the subway as a place of “enigmatic yet wonderful encounters,” filled with “gamechangers and teenagers”. Fair enough. But when did “enigmatic” become code for “jumble sale”? One might expect Métiers d’Art — the very celebration of Chanel’s legendary maisons d’art, from Lesage to Lemarié — to showcase the epitome of haute couture craftsmanship. Think Karl Lagerfeld’s Egypt collection at the Temple of Dendur, or that unforgettable Salzburg moment. But what did we get this year? Lumpy sweaters. Jeans. Flannel shirts with chains. “Illusion chinos” — a phrase that belongs in a BuzzFeed listicle, not Chanel.

Coco Chanel once said that when women on the streets wear her clothes, it means she has succeeded. But what she didn’t mean was that the collection should start there. She didn’t fight corsets and reinvent elegance so that one day, a Creative Director would bring back the lumberjack shirts.

Archives in a Blender

The collection tried to jump decades like a badly edited film. There was a single 1930s slip dress, then suddenly we’re back to flannel and some green dress with plums. The Art Deco dress embroidered by Lesage could have been a revelation… if it hadn’t been paired with pants better suited for a Starbucks run.

The whole thing played like a student film: “What if Coco Chanel met Catwoman on the A-train?” Cue leopard tweed, animal fascinators, and minaudières shaped like monkey nuts and apples. “Tourist trinkets exalted,” said the press release. More like “souvenirs elevated — into absurdity.”

When Pop Culture Replaces Personality

A “joyful cavalcade of personalities” was promised — showgirls, working girls, socialites, and even Coco Chanel walking her dog in a silk lining motif. Yet despite all the costume changes, there was no identity. Nothing that felt grounded in Chanel’s language. Just fragments of pop references stitched together with expensive thread.

Craftsmanship? Certainly. Lesage, Lemarié, Montex, Massaro — the savoir-faire is still there. But it’s like watching a virtuoso violinist play background music for a reality show. Masterpieces made to feel “mundane”. And in French it doesn’t mean “wordly” or “international”. It means… well… late night, a girl with the plums on the street waiting for… you know what I mean?

The Democratic Illusion

Matthieu Blazy, new creative director, seems to have taken Chanel’s historical flirtation with democracy literally — and flattened it. There’s a difference between “accessibility” and “anonymity.” Coco’s vision wasn’t about conforming to the crowd. It was about elevating the woman in the crowd to something timeless. The Métiers d’Art collection was meant to honor that elevation, not iron it into a pair of drawstring jeans.

Final Stop: Disenchantment

Chanel used to unveil magic — silk threads that whispered stories, buttons that held decades of design philosophy. This season, we stepped into the subway, only to find ourselves exiting at Fast Fashion Junction at a very high price. The sparkle of the maisons d’art still flickers, but without vision, even the brightest embroidery becomes costume.

So here we are. New York got its Chanel moment. Or was it “Carnaval des fringues” (in English “Carnival of Clothes”). But instead of a skyscraper, it was staged underground. And instead of Coco’s world of elegance and reinvention, we got… well… none-identified streetwear for the downtown commuter, who’s still learning what it means “elegance” by mixing plums, ugly Christmas sweaters or “I love NYC” t-shirts to work.

Next time, let’s take the express train — back to craftsmanship with purpose.

See All Looks Chanel Métiers d’Art 2026 New York show

See Finale Chanel Métiers d’Art 2026 New York show