Chanel’s Cruise 2027 collection has captured our imaginations before even being presented. The French luxury brand teased its upcoming fashion show with a series of photographs depicting a very glamorous Chanel mermaid, sporting Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s iconic bob, a pair of starburst earrings, and a glorious tail.
The mermaid, shot in black and white through the surreal lens of French photographer Julien Martinez Leclerc, was making a splash in Biarritz. Chanel has selected the seaside town, located on France’s Basque coast, to present Matthieu Blazy’s first cruise collection for the house.
Biarritz holds a lot of history for the house of Chanel. In 1915, Gabrielle Chanel rented the Villa de Larralde, located near Biarritz’s bustling casino and beaches, to set up her first couture house. The property, which Gabrielle later acquired in 1918, housed her boutiques, design studio and apartment—functioning in the same, essential way as Chanel’s 31 Rue Cambon apartment in Paris did.
Biarritz dazzled Gabrielle Chanel with its vibrant energy and the stylish, cosmopolitan population that it attracted. The women who holidayed there weren’t restricted by the formality of Parisian fashion. Instead, their clothing reflected a sense of ease—something that Gabrielle Chanel would also draw upon in her first collections. Think: capes and dresses out of breezy fabrics like jersey, linen and cotton, and chic yet comfortable ensembles that could take a woman from day to night, or that translated easily from indoor to outdoor settings.
In 1919, Gabrielle Chanel launched a line with those glamorous ladies of Biarritz in mind, making her one of the first fashion designers to introduce a resort collection. That brings us to the present: this April, Matthieu Blazy, Chanel’s current (and celebrated) creative director, is presenting his first cruise collection in the very seaside destination that inspired the idea of a cruise collection.
We can expect Chanel’s upcoming fashion show to be as star-studded as all of Blazy’s recent presentations. We will probably see celebrities sporting Chanel’s new sunglasses, recently unveiled in a campaign starring Nicole Kidman, Lily-Rose Depp, G-Dragon and newly appointed house ambassador Pedro Pascal. (Here’s hoping Pascal and his favourite Chanel handbag makes an appearance at the show.)
The Chanel Cruise 2027 show will be unveiled on Wednesday, 29 April, at 12.30am (Malaysia time). Catch the livestream of the fashion show below.
Note : The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.