Chanel and Dior have finally shown their couture shows, and I have mixed feelings about the houses.
I have fought tooth and nail defending Matthieu Blazy since he started his time at Chanel because it felt like the old Chanel clientele, that were very commercially driven by Virginie Viard, which was not clicking with the minimalism that Blazy was infusing into his pieces. His clothes are very Bottega-esque and very true to going back to the basics and looking into the house codes that haven’t been touched in a very long time.
I feel about Blazy the same way I feel about Dior under Jonathan Anderson as the creative director. I really have a deep admiration for Anderson because as a creative, he is super talented and is able to create just about anything out of nothing and let it be avant-garde. His time at his own namesake brand and Loewe worked because it is supposed to be camp, but Dior, especially after Maria Grazia Chiuri, is not camp. Even though the clothes haven’t been clicking for me personally, I have been defending this man and his decisions because they are so far detached from what we are used to.
Both Blazy and Anderson went straight into their respective houses and flipped them upside down. This course of action is different than at places like Gucci and Balenciaga, where creative directors opted for slow transitions. On their own, these two creatives are amazing, but I can’t help but feel let down by the different decisions that they have made.
Starting with Dior, this couture collection is probably the most enjoyable show that I have seen. For his first couture collection, Anderson really created a fantasy that felt true to him and the house, which I feel like is needed for his seasonal ready-to-wear (RTW) collections that feels like a disconnect between Dior and Jonathan Anderson.
Whereas Anderson created a fantasy like other couture shows, Blazy’s Chanel struggled — this felt like what I critiqued Viard for during her time at the company: falling flat and mostly boring designs. Yes, I can agree with the sentiment that these are meant to be worn for a wide variety of ages. But I was still missing a lot of the fantasy. How many more tweed suits or trompe l’oeil using silk do I need to see? From a structural standpoint, these are beautifully made pieces, and it is insane how they were made, but I just felt like the designs fell flat. I’m tired of seeing two-piece suits! Give me a dress that feels like art. Schiaparelli and Robert Wun create a vision that Chanel can do and change, and I want to see that again.
Overall, I still trust the work that Blazy and Anderson will contribute to their respective houses, and hope that they continue to bring new perspectives in collections to come.
