GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP
Chanel chooses Matthieu Blazy to be its new artistic director (Photo by Matthieu Blazy on September 28, 2024)
HIGH COUTURE – Virginie Viard has a successor. Chanel announced this Thursday, December 12, that it had appointed the Franco-Belgian Matthieu Blazy, from Bottega Veneta (Kering group), as artistic director, one of the most coveted positions in the fashion industry, vacant for several months.
“In his new role, Matthieu Blazy will be responsible for the Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear and Accessories collections”Chanel said in a press release. The Italian house Bottega Veneta had announced its departure a few minutes earlier in a press release. He will be replaced by the British Louise Trotter.
Rumors had been buzzing for months about the name of the person who would have the heavy responsibility of turning around the Lagerfeld era, embodied by Karl and his former right arm Virginie Viard, who suddenly left the house in June.
Giving new impetus to Chanel
A name had been circulating for a few hours, that of John Galliano. A star fashion designer then fallen, the Briton announced on Wednesday that he was leaving Maison Margiela, his refuge for ten years, after his dismissal from Dior for anti-Semitic remarks which had put a sudden halt to his career. “Today is the day I say goodbye to Maison Margiela”he wrote in an Instagram post, without saying more about his base. But it won’t be Chanel.
In the meantime, the Chanel studios took over the interim and presented the Spring-Summer 2024-2025 collection at Paris Fashion Week in October.
Matthieu Blazy, 40, will have to give new impetus to Chanel, whose first boutique Coco opened in 1912, while respecting a heritage and a well-established identity in the world of luxury.
A balance that he was able to maintain by taking over at Bottega Veneta as head of ready-to-wear in 2020 and then of haute couture from 2021, after having worked at Maison Margiela, Céline and Calvin Klein.
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