Probably the most glamorous job hunt in trend is over. Chanel has introduced the appointment of the 40-year-old French-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy to the position of inventive director, bringing to an finish a six-month recruitment marketing campaign throughout which just about each high tier identify in trend has been linked to the position.
Blazy joins Chanel from Bottega Veneta, which has develop into an insider favorite throughout his three-year tenure. He beforehand held senior roles at Calvin Klein, Celine and Maison Margiela. Little recognized exterior of the trade, he was thought-about an underdog in a subject thought to have included Marc Jacobs, Jeremy Scott, Hedi Slimane, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Pieter Mulier of Azzedine Alaïa and Pierpaolo Piccioli, whose acclaimed run at Fendi ended just lately.
Blazy’s appointment presents a uncommon perception into technique at Chanel, which is privately owned, famously secretive – and phenomenally profitable. World income reached $19.7bn in 2023, representing a 16% annual enhance throughout a interval when a lot of the luxurious trade has suffered a slowdown.
The selection of Blazy means that the model desires the Chanel identify itself in headlines, quite than cede the limelight to a star designer. By selecting an insider favorite quite than a star identify, CEO Leena Nair has prioritised style and design over showmanship and identify recognition. Blazy is thought for making garments, not for advertising and marketing them. Chanel’s choice is a distinction to that of Louis Vuitton, who final yr appointed Pharrell Williams, whose inventive background is primarily in music quite than trend, as chief menswear designer.
Chanel could also be taking hints from the playbook of Hermes, the one model whose purses are thought-about extra aspirational than Chanel by consumers. The Hermes designer Nadège Vanhee has a low private profile, with the model’s foremost character vitality channelled straight into its Birkin and Kelly baggage. Had the Chanel inventive director title been awarded to a designer with a pop-culture profile comparable to Slimane or Jacobs, it will have signalled a reprise of the Karl Lagerfeld period, when Chanel’s reveals have been mass leisure quite than a luxurious showcase. The continued rise of Chanel gross sales through the 5 years spent below the low-profile Virginie Viard could have emboldened Nair, and Chanel’s president of trend, Bruno Pavlovsky, to take a danger on a lesser recognized identify.
The job is the holy grail of trend positions, not only for the wage (regarded as between $4 and $5m) however for the standing. Chanel is a logo of glamour and trend that’s recognised and valued, not solely by the small variety of shoppers who can afford its tweed fits and leather-based purses, however by those that save up for its iconic No 5 fragrance or Rouge Noir nail polish. Within the 114 years since Chanel was based, solely three designers – Viard, Lagerfeld and Coco herself – have beforehand sat within the sizzling seat.
Blazy’s appointment will delight trend insiders who prize his cerebral love of design, and fervour for the craft of garments. His first Milan trend week outing for Bottega Veneta featured a trompe l’oeil look of denims and verify shirt, worn on the catwalk by Kate Moss, later revealed to be fantastic leather-based handpainted to cross as denim and flannel. His most up-to-date Milan present was his most esoteric so far. Impressed by the scene in ET the place the additional terrestrial hides amongst stuffed toys in a wardrobe, Blazy changed chairs with particular person animal-themed bean baggage at his most up-to-date Bottega Veneta present. (Actors Michelle Yeoh and Jacob Elordi have been allotted on a ladybird and a bunny rabbit, respectively.) Attire have been trimmed with metallic matchsticks, fashions’ faces hid by fringed leather-based wigs. Some carried bouquets of lilies hand-knitted from brightly colored wool, quite than purses.
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