Chanel opts for craft over celebrity in choice of new creative chief

The most glamorous job hunt in fashion is over. Chanel has announced the appointment of the 40-year-old French-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy to the role of creative director, bringing to an end a six-month recruitment campaign during which almost every top tier name in fashion has been linked to the role.

Blazy joins Chanel from Bottega Veneta, which has become an insider favourite during his three-year tenure. He previously held senior roles at Calvin Klein, Celine and Maison Margiela. Little known outside of the industry, he was considered an underdog in a field 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 recently.

Blazy’s appointment offers a rare insight into strategy at Chanel, which is privately owned, famously secretive – and phenomenally successful. Global revenue reached $19.7bn in 2023, representing a 16% annual increase during a period when most of the luxury industry has suffered a slowdown.

The choice of Blazy suggests that the brand wants the Chanel name itself in headlines, rather than cede the limelight to a star designer. By choosing an insider favourite rather than a celebrity name, CEO Leena Nair has prioritised taste and design over showmanship and name recognition. Blazy is known for making clothes, not for marketing them. Chanel’s decision is a contrast to that of Louis Vuitton, who last year appointed Pharrell Williams, whose creative background is primarily in music rather than fashion, as chief menswear designer.

Chanel may be taking hints from the playbook of Hermes, the only brand whose handbags are considered more aspirational than Chanel by shoppers. The Hermes designer Nadège Vanhee has a low personal profile, with the brand’s main character energy channelled directly into its Birkin and Kelly bags. Had the Chanel creative director title been awarded to a designer with a pop-culture profile such as Slimane or Jacobs, it would have signalled a reprise of the Karl Lagerfeld era, when Chanel’s shows were mass entertainment rather than a luxury showcase. The continued rise of Chanel sales during the five years spent under the low-profile Virginie Viard may have emboldened Nair, and Chanel’s president of fashion, Bruno Pavlovsky, to take a risk on a lesser known name.

The job is the holy grail of fashion positions, not just for the salary (thought to be between $4 and $5m) but for the status. Chanel is a symbol of glamour and fashion that is recognised and valued, not only by the small number of consumers who can afford its tweed suits and leather handbags, but by those who save up for its iconic No 5 perfume or Rouge Noir nail polish. In the 114 years since Chanel was founded, only three designers – Viard, Lagerfeld and Coco herself – have previously sat in the hot seat.

Blazy’s appointment will delight fashion insiders who prize his cerebral love of design, and passion for the craft of clothes. His first Milan fashion week outing for Bottega Veneta featured a trompe l’oeil look of jeans and check shirt, worn on the catwalk by Kate Moss, later revealed to be fine leather handpainted to pass as denim and flannel. His most recent Milan show was his most esoteric to date. Inspired by the scene in ET where the extra terrestrial hides among stuffed toys in a wardrobe, Blazy replaced chairs with individual animal-themed bean bags at his most recent Bottega Veneta show. (Actors Michelle Yeoh and Jacob Elordi were allocated on a ladybird and a bunny rabbit, respectively.) Dresses were trimmed with metal matchsticks, models’ faces concealed by fringed leather wigs. Some carried bouquets of lilies hand-knitted from brightly coloured wool, rather than handbags.