With the Cruise 2026/27 collection, CHANEL returns symbolically to Biarritz, a place deeply connected to the history of the House and to the revolutionary vision of Gabrielle Chanel. It was here, far from the Parisian salons, that Chanel opened her couture house and presented her first collections, redefining the relationship between fashion, the body and movement.
Titled “Sous le salon la plage”, the show captures the spirit of a collection where the salon meets the beach, elegance embraces freedom, and sophistication is grounded in practicality. For his first CHANEL Cruise collection as Artistic Director of Fashion Activities, Matthieu Blazy celebrates the Basque coast with a wardrobe that moves between rigor and lightness, functionality and fantasy.
The collection draws inspiration from the outdoor world that shaped Gabrielle Chanel’s modern vision: the sea, the sun, the wind and the beach. At the beginning of the twentieth century, these elements helped free women from the restrictions of traditional dress, introducing jersey, sportswear and clothes designed to follow the body in motion.
Blazy brings together French workwear, leisurewear and grandeur, dissolving hierarchical dress codes. Sailor uniforms meet the flourish of evening gowns, the Basque stripe becomes a recurring thread, and comfort is seamlessly allied with sophistication.
Movement runs through the collection: fluttering silk foulard ensembles, rustling raffia skirts, washed cotton canvas tailoring, springy tweeds, soft beaded knits, fluid silks and shimmering fish-scale paillettes. The result is a sensorial and experimental wardrobe, echoing the natural abundance of Biarritz.
A central role is given to CHANEL’s black dress, one of Gabrielle Chanel’s most powerful symbols. Blazy opens the collection with a reinterpretation of the 1926 black dress, returning to the original archival sketch. Once considered a revolution — famously described by Vogue as Chanel’s “Ford” — the black dress becomes, once again, a statement of independence, precision and unapologetic presence.
“There is no beauty without freedom of the body,” Gabrielle Chanel once said. The quote resonates throughout the collection, where beauty is inseparable from ease, movement and personal freedom.
Accessories reinforce the idea of travel, balancing the practical and the playful: small valise handbags, generous holdalls, waterproof flap bags, oversized striped beach paniers and even a pala carrier. Shoes move effortlessly between salon and beach, from elegant Art Deco heels to barefoot-inspired heel caps. Jewellery echoes both the Art Deco architecture of Biarritz and its aquatic life, with shell earrings and the CHANEL pearl finding their natural home.
With Cruise 2026/27, Matthieu Blazy creates a new CHANEL folklore: free, sophisticated, functional and deeply rooted in the history of the House. In Biarritz, fashion once again becomes movement.
