The final runway walk at the Chanel Fall Winter 2025 show in Paris
It’s fun to imagine what happens inside a Haute Couture and luxury design atelier when a lead creative director is no longer at the helm. It’s rare but not unheard of, especially considering the fashion musical chairs lately. Chanel’s most recent collections, Haute Couture SS 2025 and Ready-to-Wear Fall Winter 2025, were conceived and created by the design teams. Do they think, ‘Wonderful, now we can precede with nixed ideas? Or ‘We can finally experiment? As long as these concepts are commercially viable, the top brass would surely greenlight. On its Tuesday show, the last day of Paris Fashion Week, Chanel showed another side of itself, without Virginie Viard’s and the yet-to-determined influence of Matthieu Blazy. The result was a more subtle offering with plenty of au courant stylings that make for covetable merchandise.
A look from the Chanel Fall Winter 2025 runway show in Paris.
The massive runway this time was a nod to the ribbon bow on the invite, which read, “tied, loose or floating in the wind, the CHANEL ribbon sets an allure in motion.” Once an errant pigeon that had entered the vast glass-domed Grand Palais took a strut down the runway, the actual models arrived sporting a transparent look. Layered over traditional Chanel tweed styles, the sheer overlays gave the looks an avant-garde edge.
With a focus on youth, many styles were miniskirts in the hemline, some with a tulip blouson finish, others shown with Pierrot-style collars, others made from chunky knits, whether a red and pink combo or cozy mint green, the latter being two examples of color in the mainly classic black and white line up. A series of classic tweed double-knits with coordinated caps came next, suggesting skirts and dresses be worn over pants.
A look from the Chanel Fall Winter 2025 runway show in Paris.
Black ribbons were peppered in at this stage of the show, streaming from sheer fabrics, as a bow on a boot, or worn in the hair. A white ribbons appeared as print on a series of dresses while a white knit version accented a short black knit dress. A sleek patent leather group also appealed to the nascent Chanel lady.
A look from the Chanel Fall Winter 2025 runway show in Paris.
Two denim styles yielded at ‘how’d they do that’ as cotton denim ombré-d into chiffon on the cuffs and ankles of tops and jeans. Outwear such as a fur coat with fur Camelia appliqués proposed evening and white satin style adorned with bows.
Accessories stood out for their play on proportion. Pearls also dominated the collection, enlarged on long beaded styles or supersized into evening bags with disc handles. While some bags were on the larger size, such as an envelope clutch and hobo styles, the motherload was on the small, tiny, and minuscule side, with one style looking to be the size of a matchbook – is this a new tactic for entry-level Chanel purchases?
A look from the Chanel Fall Winter 2025 runway show in Paris.
Judging by the oohs and ahs from the Chanel front row, with or without a personality helming Chanel, their customers still found plenty to lust after come fall shopping time.
