In his first Chanel Resort 2027 collection, Matthieu Blazy, Artistic Director of Fashion Activities, celebrates the Basque coast, both purposefully and playfully.

Uniting French workwear, leisure wear and grandeur, the effervescent with the rigorous, from the uniforms of sailors to the flourish of gowns, hierarchical clothing codes are dispensed with.

Perpetually in motion, from fluttering silk foulard ensembles and rustling raffia skirts to washed cotton canvas suiting, the essential enjoyment of dressing and undressing – the bathing suit is also key – guides the collection. Sensorially pleasurable and experimental, peerless fabrications echo the abundance of the surrounding natural world in fluid silks, springy tweeds, compact flocks, soft beaded knits, and shimmering fish-scale paillettes.

The accessories of the collection reinforce the idea of a journey, spanning the practical and playful across an abundance of styles. From a small valise handbag to a full-grown holdall; from a waterproof flap bag to a giant striped beach panier. Even a pala carrier makes an appearance. Shoes straddle both salon and beach, taking the wearer wherever they please, from elegant Art Deco heels to barefoot ‘heel caps.’ The jewellery, too, echoes the Art Deco architecture of Biarritz, alongside its life aquatic, where shell earrings are held to the ear, and the Chanel pearl finds its spiritual home.

In this Cruise collection, Matthieu Blazy presents Gabrielle Chanel’s 1926 black dress as look one. Returning to the original archival sketch, the widely distributed drawing of the dress in 1926 did not show a large bow visible from the back. Today, it is transposed into a clutch bag. The collection also embraces the traditions of many forms of French workwear, from the sailor’s marinière to the ‘bleu de travail,’ upholding their functional as well as their fictional, rebellious status.