New York Sets the Scene for CHANEL’s Métiers d’art 2026

CHANEL staged its Métiers d’art 2026 show in New York in an unexpected location, the abandoned Bowery subway station. The collection captured the pulse of the city through Matthieu Blazy’s fresh point of view. As he explained, “The New York subway belongs to all. Everyone uses it: there are students and gamechangers; statesmen and teenagers. It is a place full of enigmatic yet wonderful encounters, a clash of pop archetypes, where everyone has somewhere to go and each is unique in what they wear. Like in the movies, they are the heroes of their own stories.” That sense of shared movement became the lens for his first Métiers d’art season as Artistic Director, turning the subway’s mix of grit, spectacle, and everyday creativity into a fashion story. The result felt like a moving portrait of New York and the people who bring it to life. A star filled crowd watched it unfold, including A$AP Rocky, Ayo Edebiri, Margaret Qualley, Tilda Swinton, Meg Ryan, Bowen Yang, Teyana Taylor, Linda Evangelista, Kristen Stewart, Jon Bon Jovi, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Scorsese, and Sofia Coppola.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL

For Blazy’s first Métiers d’art show, the yearly presentation dedicated to the artisans behind CHANEL’s craft, from embroidery and feathers to millinery, shoemaking and jewelry, most of whom work out of Le 19M in Aubervilliers, the collection balanced past and present with easy confidence. A shimmering reinterpretation of an Art Deco dress felt like a modern flapper uniform. Denim was softened into something almost intimate, and textures collided in ways that highlighted the hands of the Maisons d’art. Each look captured the essence of the characters that make New York so special, from the ladies who lunch uptown to the downtown cool girls and everyone in between.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL

Accessories pushed the storytelling further with playful New York references. Sculptural minaudières appeared as apples, peanuts, and oysters. Jewelry glowed with glassy cabochons, Deco hummingbirds, and golden scales that caught the light in motion. Even down to the linings, which were painted with small scenes of the city including a charming illustration of Coco Chanel walking her dog against the skyline.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL

Gabrielle Chanel’s own history with New York in 1931 sits just beneath the collection’s surface. She first arrived on her way to Hollywood, introduced through Samuel Goldwyn’s push to bring Parisian style to film, but it was downtown that left the deeper mark. Seeing New Yorkers interpret her codes so freely renewed her sense of the brand’s reach and relevance. That exchange of creative energy still echoes through the house, adding another layer to why CHANEL and New York feel so naturally intertwined.