Immerse yourself into the Chanel’s Métiers d’art 2026 universe
In December 2025, Chanel’s creative director Matthieu Blazy presented his debut Métiers d’art collection. Set underground in a discontinued subway platform in the heart of New York, it captured the hearts of New Yorkers and people around the world. Vibrant, bold and full of life, the show had models walking through the carriages and on the platform in Blazy’s creations. “The New York subway belongs to all,” says Blazy, explaining his choice of venue.
The collection is also a play on the sub(way)-cultures that exist around us; Blazy designs for everyone, from the corporate hustlers to the high society ladies. He adds:
“Everyone uses the subway: 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.”
As with all his work, Blazy built this world from the ground up–putting his twist on even the tiniest details. For this immersive universe, everything was planned to perfection, from the show soundtrack down to the model hand-selected to open the show. Get a glimpse of it below.
Can’t get enough of Chanel in New York? Read on for more behind-the-scenes titbits.
The Breakout Star
Bhavitha Mandava
Did you know? The 25-year-old model who opened the show, Bhavitha Mandava, was herself discovered at Atlantic Avenue subway station in 2024. She was handpicked by Matthieu Blazy to walk his debut Spring/Summer 2026 show and to open the Métiers d’art show. When she was scouted by 28Models, she was a student, pursuing a Master of Science in Integrated Design & Media/Human-Computer Interaction at New York University. She saw the modelling job as an opportunity to pay off her student loans. “I worked a job in the mornings, attended classes in the evenings, did homework at night, and flew to Europe every weekend to model,” she reveals on her social media.
At the Métiers d’art show, she made history as the first Indian model to open a Chanel show; the heart-warming video of her parents’ reaction to the show, as they watch from Hyderabad, India, has since gone viral. “It has felt like a dream I am still learning to believe. Everything around me is sparkling with a kind of magic I never thought would find me,” she writes. “Since meeting Matthieu Blazy, the world feels brighter, softer, and full of possibility.”
The Soundtrack
There’s nothing like shutting off the chaos of the subway by putting on your earphones. Consider Matthieu Blazy’s curation of music for the Métiers d’art show. Listening to this mix of classical and contemporary music is the best way to immerse oneself into Chanel’s perfectly crafted universe.
The Savoir-faire
With Chanel, the star of the show is always the clothes. The French luxury house presents a series of videos, with detailed conversations with Chanel’s expert teams of embroiderers, hat makers, and goldsmiths, to show fans how the Métiers d’art 2026 collection came together.
