Gabriela Hearst and Chanel F/W 2026 Review

Paris Women’s F/W 2026 Highlights Part 9

From the Petit to the Grand Palais

March 10, 2026

Gabriela Hearst

The beauty in the rugged is what Gabriela Hearst F/W 2026 was all about – and beauty she did find. It goes without saying that every single one of her collections is quietly political and always comes with a statement. Alone the fabrics she uses speak volumes and are as sustainable as can be, i.e., hand-crocheted and paid for with fair wages lace from Bolivia or the repurposing of – yes, real – fur for all outfits throughout the line-up. Ecological fashion can have an unattractive vibe but not with Hearst, and certainly not with this collection: Leathery military jackets, cargo pants and some masculine tailoring plus channeling her Chloé days in lacey, frilly, and feminine floor-sweeping dresses. The hemlines on her leather and fur garments were kept as they are naturally rounded and uneven which made for a great look. The removable lapel Hearst put on a handful of looks was a great new accessory offering versatile wear and her staple cowboy boots got a colorful repaint.

Gabriela Hearst F/W 2026

Leather military jackets

Channeling her Chloé days with the frilly dresses

Curved and raw hemlines

Removable lapels

Chanel

Wow, that was fast. With only his third collection for Chanel, Matthieu Blazy has already put his unmistakable stamp on the clothes – experimental with the silhouette, fully dedicated to fabric research and not shy to use bold color to update the codes of this brand. And the sophomore collection can be slippery territory as we saw at another Haute Couture house a few nights before. Blazy’s focus is crystal clear. He wants to make Chanel an ageless brand. Often the younger clients are the daughters of the privileged existing ones. With these clothes Chanel will attract an all-new entry level client who is enchanted by seduction and a certain frilliness which generally lacks at this house. He used the entire Grand Palais again and set up giant cargo cranes in all signal colors – maybe hinting at the fact that he is in the process of building something of his own – to send out a long but well edited collection which saw the models’ groups broken up by slightly off pacing which worked well.

Chanel F/W 2026

Matthieu Blazy is infusing freshness into the house

The Grand Palais set for Chanel F/W 2026

Blazy went for a bold elongated new silhouette by placing belts on the mid-thigh level of skirts and dresses which stretched the torso and felt new in a house which is known for its cropped jackets. Those pieces felt all new to Chanel and maybe even too experimental but made for great fresh air here. Also, he brought some interesting metal chain mail pieces when working on materials at the end of the show which one associates more with Versace or Rabanne and not Chanel but again, they worked. Blazy is very much a fashion insider, so his closing look model was Anne V., who already starred in his couture show and is very much the prototype of the insider’s favorite model. The house frames his collections as dialogues with Gabrielle Chanel and Blazy searches the archives for press clippings and reads up on all her famous quotes. This time it was about being a caterpillar during the day and a butterfly at night as in our favorite dress of soft pastel silk panels pieced together as a long skirt fused with a tank top and attached flowers worn with cool flat silver shoes.