After the fashion show set in the New York subway last year, Chanel has announced that Matthieu Blazy will present his next Métiers d’Art collection in Rome. The fashion show will be staged on December 2, while the location will be revealed at a later date. The announcement, released through the maison’s channels, was accompanied by a photograph of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel alongside Italian director Luchino Visconti: an image with a strong symbolic value, capable of evoking the cultural and creative dialogue that has always linked France and Italy. In fact, the two collaborated on one of the episodes of Boccaccio ’70, the anthology film directed by Visconti and released in 1962, for which Chanel signed the costumes of the protagonist Romy Schneider. A collaboration that sanctioned the beginning of a turbulent relationship with even amorous undertones between the two giants of fashion and cinema.
“With this fashion show, the maison writes a new chapter in its long history with Italy. Gabrielle Chanel discovered the country in the summer of 1920 and has not stopped visiting ever since,” the fashion house said. “The designer stayed in Rome on several occasions, deepening her love of Renaissance painting, ancient art and Italian cinema. Her Italian friendships fueled her imagination and left a deep imprint on her work.”
The relationship between Chanel and Italy has been consolidated over time through numerous presentations in the territory, from the recent Cruise 2026 collection on Lake Como to the memorable Métiers d’Art in 2015, when Karl Lagerfeld chose the Cinecittà studios as the setting for his Roman vision for the maison. Bruno Pavlovsky, president of the fashion division and chairman of Chanel SAS, emphasized the “extraordinary heritage” of the Italian capital, while also recalling Matthieu Blazy’s strong bond with the country, which matured during his years at the creative helm of Bottega Veneta. “It’s no secret that Matthieu deeply loves Italy and knows the country very well, so we all wanted to return to Italy. Facing Rome is always a challenge because it represents an absolute summit,” the manager told WWD. “Beyond fashion, it is a mythical destination and an inexhaustible source of inspiration.”
Over the years, Chanel has taken the Métiers d’Art line to profoundly different places, from Tokyo to Edinburgh, Hangzhou to Dakar, transforming each fashion show into a cultural as well as aesthetic tale. In fact, the collections celebrate the savoir-faire of the ateliers of excellence acquired by the maison, now largely brought together within Le19M, the large creative hub designed by Rudy Ricciotti on the outskirts of Paris.
Here historic realities such as Lesage, Montex, Massaro, Lemarié, Maison Michel, Lognon, Paloma and Goossens coexist: custodians of rare techniques and an extraordinary craft heritage that, season after season, finds new expression through the vision of the creative director.
Rome, after all, seems to impose itself more and more as the symbolic epicenter of contemporary fashion. This is demonstrated by the maisons that guard its most authentic DNA and have chosen it as the stage for their most recent collections-from Valentino to Fendi-but also by the growing appeal exerted on the international scene. For few cities, like Rome, still manage to embody so naturally the very idea of beauty, memory and grandeur.
[📷 chanel.com]
