December 3, 2025 |
If there’s one thing that unites New Yorkers, it’s complaining about the subway. Call it a love-hate relationship that depends on the day (and delays) but don’t dare to question public transit’s merits as an out-of-towner – nothing will inspire a fiercer defence. Hopping on the train offers a view into everyday NYC life, a place where you can spot finance bros in fleece vests, students clad in black puffer jackets, women toting fancy designer bags and the occasional celeb minding their own business, all crammed into a three foot radius. And it’s this vitality that drew Matthieu Blazy in, when he announced that his first Métiers d’Art collection for Chanel would take place in NYC.
The last time Chanel hit up the Big Apple was back in 2018, when the late Karl Lagerfeld took over the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This time around, the venue took a decidedly downtown turn. A teaser image, released earlier in the year, showed a vintage NYC transit map, which led to rampant speculation – would they take over the subways? The answer: a resounding yes. Set at the decommissioned Bowery station, the space is now commonly used in television and movies, making it the perfect venue to capture Blazy’s fascination with the thrumming heartbeat of New York City. Guests descended down stairs and through vintage turnstiles to find themselves on a familiar looking platform, except this time it would also double as a runway.
Instead of people watching while waiting for a train to arrive, this time around it was celebrity spotting as guests waited for the show to start. With subway stairs serving as the perfect photo op, the likes of brand ambassador Tilda Swinton descended clad in a feathery top and tweed skirt while Margaret Qualley and A$AP Rocky, wearing the same looks as seen in the teaser film, sauntered in together. A$AP would later change into a second look and was spotted chatting with Martin Scorsese. Also in attendance was fellow brand ambassador Ayo Edebiri, Tessa Thompson, Teyana Taylor Kristen Stewart, Rose Byrne, Bowen Yang, Jon Bon Jovi and more – suffice to say the stars turned out for the moment.
Fittingly, the show began with a subway entering the station with the final destination being 59th and 5th Avenue. In Chanel’s world, the women on the subway run the gamut from socialites to superheroes to working girls to even showgirls, spanning fashion from the 1920s to the 2020s. Opening with a quarter zip worn with denim, it perfectly captured the woman on the go as well as the current zeitgeist and fascination with that style of knitwear. But given that this is a métiers d’art collection, this was no mere sweater and jeans. Instead, that look along with the 80 that followed were a celebration of Chanel’s rich array of métiers. You’ll find Lesage embroidery on an archive Art Deco dress, reimagined for modern day and adorned with Lemarié fringed featherwork. Goossens, known for their metalwork, created jewellery like ice cube glass cabochons and deco hummingbirds while Maison Michel provided the fascinators. Atelier Montex, revered for its own embroidery work, provided the shimmering fish detail seen on an 1930s-inspired slip. To accompany all looks, Massaro’s hand-crafted classic slingbacks, a brand signature albeit with the new addition of a shaved shearling spotted animal print option.
Blazy has always been a fan of incorporating playful references. His now signature lumberjack plaid shirting makes an appearance, rendered in wool boucle tweed. Being that it’s New York, naturally Milton Glaser’s classic ‘I Heart New York’ motif makes an appearance, on a T-shirt that pokes at the fare one would find at a tourist shop. But perhaps the most clever moment came in the form of a coat with accompanying handbag that dropped a bit of Gabrielle Chanel lore. In 1931 the designer came to New York with the intention of heading to Los Angeles to design costumes for MGM, including Gloria Swanson’s Tonight or Never. That poster was transformed into a handwoven tweed as well as on the matching purse, highlighting the handiwork of the artisans.
For a follow up collection to his highly anticipated debut. Blazy exceeded expectations, finding humor and beauty in the everyday, “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.”
Photography courtesy of Chanel.
