Why Chanel is poaching Matthieu Blazy from Bottega Veneta

Photo illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images

Chanel, arguably the world’s most famous luxury fashion house, has a new artistic director, marking the first time it has hired a major designer in 40 years. In the new year, Matthieu Blazy, 40, will join the French megabrand after stepping down from his role as creative director of Kering’s Bottega Veneta. He will present his first collection for Chanel in Paris in October.

Chanel has been looking for a new design chief since Virginie Viard left the company in June. Viard was a long-time studio head at Chanel under Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s top designer from 1983 until his death in 2019. When Viard was chosen as his first successor, the promotion was seen as a logical decision in the spirit of continuity and stability in the house , known for its caution and long-term vision. However, Viard’s tenure at Chanel was widely viewed as disappointing after Lagerfeld’s death. “Viard’s work largely lacked surprise and innovation, but above all authority,” Cathy Horyn wrote this summer.

The design bar is particularly high at Chanel, a $20 billion private label that builds on the legacy of Coco Chanel’s groundbreaking designs, which first changed the silhouette of women’s fashion in the 1920s. When Lagerfeld joined Chanel in the early 1980s, the brand was respected but considered old-fashioned and on the verge of fading into insignificance. He combed through the house’s archives and redesigned them with a softer, more youthful sensibility. Under his leadership, Chanel became a global juggernaut known for its interconnectedness Cs logos, boucle jackets, theatrical runway shows everywhere from Dallas to the Grand Palais in Paris, and cinematic commercials directed by Baz Luhrmann and Martin Scorsese. Over the past decade, Chanel’s sales have more than doubled, as have prices for its signature quilted flap bags.

Models walk the runway for Bottega Veneta’s Spring 2025 collection.
Photo: GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images

Blazy’s appointment was an open secret in the fashion industry last month as news spread that he had emerged as the frontrunner in the competition for such a coveted job. Marc Jacob even went so far as to publicly say he wanted him. Other rumored candidates included Simon Porte Jacquemus, Hedi Slimane, John Galliano and Daniel Roseberry. Chanel was headhunting while many of its competitors were also looking for new talent during a turbulent time for the luxury fashion industry. After several years of unusually high growth as a result of the pandemic, during which luxury brands increased their prices, many high-end brands are experiencing a decline in sales.

At Bottega Veneta, Blazy proved he has the talent and courage to lead a major luxury house, after spending much of his career behind the scenes for other influential designers, namely Phoebe Philo and Raf Simons. His 2024 collections marked a turning point for Cathy Horyn, who praised them for their new restraint and appeal. “Blazy has made a fetish of crafts, especially embellishments like thick fringe,” she wrote in February. (Another example is his leather pants, which look exactly like jeans.) But by toning down these craft techniques, Blazy’s more recent collections have delivered a clearer vision, full of “thoughtful details” and “a sense of wonder.” established him as one of the best designers of today. Kering said Bottega posted record-breaking sales in 2024 as the small brand defied the luxury crisis dogging its corporate siblings.

Blazy’s Andiamo bag was first introduced in the Spring 2023 collection.
Photo: Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images

A decade ago, we called Blazy “the most famous designer you’ve never heard of.” At the time, the French-Belgian designer was only 30 years old and was quietly leading the design department at Maison Martin Margiela. Blazy grew up in Paris and studied fashion in Brussels at La Cambre. Raf Simons hired him after school at his eponymous menswear label and Blazy began a long-term friendship with Simons and his right-wing designer Pieter Mulier, who became Blazy’s romantic partner. In 2014, Blazy left Margiela and joined Phoebe Philo’s Celine as a senior designer before reuniting with Simons and Mulier at Calvin Klein in New York in 2016. After Simons was fired in 2019, the three designers eventually returned to Europe: Simons joined Prada in 2020; Blazy joined Bottega Veneta that same year, initially as design director under then creative director Daniel Lee; and Mulier took over for Alaïa in 2021. Blazy has maintained a reputation as one of the nicest guys in fashion. (In 2023, after several years at a distance, he and Mulier said they had separated.)

At Bottega Veneta, an Italian brand known for its leather goods, craftsmanship and much more Intrecciato With his bags, Blazy has focused on creating carefully crafted, highly desirable clothing that doesn’t always fare well on social media. “When I took the job, I sat with the team – designers but also people in the company for 20 years – and asked us a simple question: ‘What is Bottega?'” he said fashion in 2022. “‘What is craft and where does it stand in the tradition? How can we bring modernity? We didn’t talk about the form. We didn’t talk about the image. It was the feel of the brand.”

Blazy will be replaced at Bottega Veneta by British designer Louise Trotter, who has been creative director at Carven since early 2023. She will begin her new role in January, the company said.

A model wears leather jeans during Bottega Veneta’s fall 2022 runway show, Matthieu Blazy’s debut as creative director.
Photo: Swan Gallet/Penske Media via Getty Images