Here’s How Chanel Gave Tweed A Fresh Spin For Spring Summer 2026
A note for anyone who wonders if Matthieu Blazy – present-day artistic director of fashion at Chanel – is cut from the same cloth as the maison’s singular founder: Take a close-up look at how he’s reimagined tweed in the brand’s Spring Summer 2026 collection.
Tweed has long been a symbol of revolution at Chanel. In the ’20s, Gabrielle Chanel was one of the first designers to borrow the hardy yet elegant fabric from menswear and rework it for women. She made it lighter, brighter and more playful, even weaving in unconventional materials such as ribbons. The term the maison uses to describe it couldn’t be more apt: Fantasy tweed.
The brand pushed the needle further in 2002 when its subsidiary company Paraffection acquired the French embroidery house Lesage into its Metiers d’Art network. Founded in 1924 and famed for its innovative techniques, Lesage had already been supplying Chanel with its artisanal tweeds – woven by hand on traditional looms – since the ’90s. The move affirmed two things: Lesage’s lasting legacy and Chanel’s commitment to craft.
Now, with the craft-obsessed Matthieu Blazy on board, tweed continues to evolve and surprise at Chanel. In his first collection for the house this season, it’s a canvas for experimentation and inspiration for other materials, giving the classic tweed suit a cool and carefree attitude. Here, we zoom in on how some of these fabrics were made.
See also: Everything We Love About The Chanel Cruise 2026 Collection
BEST TWEED LOOKS FROM CHANEL’S SPRING SUMMER 2026 COLLECTION
A playful and thoroughly modern spin on tweed – artisans at Lesage intentionally incorporated knots while weaving the fabric. An homage to tweed with its multi-coloured criss-cross pattern, the fabric used to produce the top and skirt is in fact crafted from a lightweight viscose twill. The transparent peek-a-boo effect is the result of a special treatment applied to the fabric’s front surface after its intricate chequered pattern had been transfer-printed onto the back.
The jacket, skirt and top here are made using the same technical twill as the see-through top and skirt in the aforementioned look. The intricate chequered pattern was first transfer-printed onto the back before every line was precision inkjet-printed in different colours.
This skirt suit and matching top are made of a handcrafted macrame knit designed to mimic tweed. The macrame textile used for the jacket alone took 51 hours of work to complete. To simulate the highly textured, rustic effect of tweed, artisans used two types of threads to produce the textile: one that knots easily and another with irregular thickness.
The lively Lesage tweed of this jacket was developed using yarns exclusive to Chanel, with its complex blend of fibres carefully chosen to create a striking contrast of colours and textures. The tweed was then finished with high pressure and heat treatment, compressing the yearns together for an even more vivid look. The pullover’s macrame knit was handcrafted in a similar way to that of the previous red skirt suit set, using two types of special thread to create plenty of texture and relief. The skirt is crafted from a chequered tweed made of approximately 15 different yarns.
This article first appeared in Volume 8 of F ZINE.