Inside the Sell-Out Frenzy Around Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel SS26 Collection

“It’s busier than McDonald’s on a Friday night in Leeds,” my girlfriend said, turning to me as we perched on a tweed-covered settee in the middle of 31 Rue Cambon—aka Chanel’s most iconic store and Paris flagship. With rumours of near-hour-long waits to see a sales associate, already-sold-out pieces, and people travelling upwards of 30 hours just to make it into the building, I had to see this Matthieu Blazy mania for myself. Confirmed: it’s bigger than anyone anticipated.

Granted, the signs were there. When the new creative director’s debut collection, Spring/Summer 26, showed at Paris Fashion Week last October, it landed immediately. The new pumps, the bags, the Chanel-embroidered shirts were all moodboarded, reposted, and coveted across the internet. So, we knew it would sell.

What we didn’t anticipate was just how well it would sell. With the store running out of glasses (no champagne with purchase for you), customers pulling every string imaginable for early access, and some of the fashion industry’s most recognisable faces queuing right alongside the rest of us as a result.

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In the time I spent at 31 Rue Cambon, I clocked more famous faces than you’d see in the first ten minutes of the Met Gala: a famous British model, an editor-turned-social-media exec, an influencer-cum-chief-buyer for one of our favourite online retailers… And that was just in my direct eyeline. What I did find quietly reassuring: none of them appeared to be treated especially differently from those of us without the mega follower count.

Though no one quite felt the chaos as much as the sales representatives, gracefully attempting to conjure extra shades and sizes from thin air. One particularly chic shopper went in with a plan of action: “I think the shoes are going to fly the fastest. I’ve come in for the burgundy crocodile-embossed calfskin and patent pumps, and the square-toe cream loafer-style ballet flats,” she whispered to me with varying sizes already lined up in front of her. And she is far from alone in that assessment.

While the ready-to-wear—that cotton-tweed jacket and the coral cotton shirt in particular—is proving plenty popular, it’s the accessories that luxury fashion fans are truly clamouring for. During my time in the store, multiple small Chanel totes (both the croc-embossed and grained calfskin, two distinct styles that, confusingly, share the same name) were snapped up, alongside maxi flap bags and even a raffia mini shopping bag (my personal favourite).

On the shoe front, it’s the new pumps, the animal-print slingbacks, and the burgundy and pink ballet flats causing the most commotion.

For London shoppers, the Bond Street store will begin officially stocking Blazy’s debut collection on Friday 13th March—no longer merely a day for bad luck—with Harrods and other stockists across the UK following shortly after. Consider this your preview of what’s about to happen.