Show Notes: Chanel Spring Summer 2025 Haute Couture

When: January 28, 2025

The venue: After returning to its traditional stomping ground, the Grand Palais, for the Spring/Summer 2025 ready-to-wear show, Chanel once again staged its couture presentation in this iconic venue – home to some of its most legendary runway moments.

This time, however, the spectacle took on a more refined, almost meditative tone. Guests, including Jennie and Dua Lipa, were seated at the very heart of the Grand Palais, surrounding a sleek, curved runway that, from above, subtly mirrored the double C logo – reimagined as an abstract infinity symbol. A fitting nod, perhaps, to Chanel’s 110-year legacy as the longest-running couture house in existence.

Behind this thoughtful, minimalist design was the visionary Willo Perron, whose pared-back approach demonstrated that even the most monumental spaces can speak volumes through simplicity.

The takeaway: Chanel, it seems, is in the midst of a quiet transition – biding time for the Blazy era to officially begin with Matthieu Blazy’s much-anticipated debut as artistic director for Spring Summer 2026. In the meantime, the in-house Creation Studio has wisely turned this pause into an opportunity to reinforce the house’s signature “Chanel-isms,” as if fine-tuning the foundations before Blazy puts his stamp on the maison.

This effort was unmistakable in the Spring Summer 2025 ready-to-wear collection, where plumes – those perennial symbols of Chanel’s savoir-faire – made a return, like a subtle nod to the house’s long, feathered history. Similarly, Coromandel screens, a motif so woven into the brand’s identity, continued to punctuate the recent Métiers d'Art collection.

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But what else could the Chanel vault offer this season? Enter the spotlight: colour, and the way Mademoiselle Chanel used it. “Comfort has forms. Love has colours,” she once said, and here, the house reintroduces its flirtation with the full spectrum. Chanel may have become synonymous with its monochromatic black-and-white uniform, but it has always been a house willing to dip its toe into the riotous depths of colour when the mood struck.

The collection itself leaned into a sense of lightness and simplicity, as though the house is clearing the canvas for a fresh start. The opening look – a boxy, loosely cut tweed suit with a drop-waist skirt– was a moment of pastel perfection, with an ombre effect that was, well, nothing short of delightful. Airy, frothy, effortless: these were the words that kept popping up, like a fashion Wordle to be solved.

While there were the expected moments of glamour – such as a rich vermilion halter gown or an emerald-blue sequin dress worn over a dramatic cerulean cape – what truly stole the show were the fresh, light hues that floated down the runway like a breath of spring air.

Then came the pieces themselves: pyjama-like ensembles in soft dawn-hued silk crepe, a sunshine yellow tweed suit, a lilac tweed dress with box pleats, and a white-and-black tweed suit, painted and embroidered with meticulous care. Further on, a bold orange-pink coat billowed over a purple jacquard dress, followed by a mimosa-yellow dress suit with delicate pale pink flounces.

But the devil is in the details. Rock crystal, metal, and rhinestone buttons transformed into moons, suns, and camellia flowers, lending a whimsical, almost celestial quality to the collection. Black velvet belts adorned with lunar and solar stars paid homage to the house's deep connection to the color black, while multicoloured braids – graphic and embroidered with tiny flowers – struck a balance between playfulness and sophistication.

Under the skilled hands of the atelier, materials took on a dreamlike quality. The lightness of chiffon and the subtle trompe l’oeil effects – painted lace, embroidered textures, and halos of colour – created the perfect illusion of tweed.

And to complete the cycle, the closing look was a traditional couture bride reinterpreted with youthful flair: a drop-waist skirt paired with a sequin jacket, the tulle swirling into a modern explosion of bridal lightness. It felt like an infinite loop—past, present, and future – woven together in the most quintessentially Chanel way

The items we're eyeing: The low-waisted skirts; the braided gold-buckle belts; the slight leg-of-mutton sleeve jackets (Looks 2, 3, and 7); the feathered tulle slip dress (Look 6); the strappy two-tone pumps

The looks: