Paris in October has its own rhythm. The air is crisp, the Seine glitters under autumn light and the city feels like it’s humming with secrets. And then the shows begin – and suddenly, it’s no longer just Paris. It’s the world’s stage.
This season feels especially electric because so many of the big houses are in transition. We watched Matthieu Blazy step onto Chanel’s stage for his first ready-to-wear collection. Chanel is a house with so much history that every tweed jacket carries the weight of a legacy. But Blazy didn’t look weighed down; he looked free. He played with proportions, with lightness, as if to say: Chanel can still surprise you.
Meanwhile, over at Dior, Jonathan Anderson made his much-anticipated women’s debut. There was a playful edge to his tailoring – that sense of irony he’s known for – but softened with Dior’s femininity. You could almost feel Christian Dior’s New Look being re-imagined for a new generation.
And then came Balenciaga, with Pierpaolo Piccioli stepping in after years of steering Valentino. This was one of the most talked-about shows of the week. How do you take a house known for sharp, almost brutalist modernity and inject it with the romance of Valentino? Piccioli’s answer was bold color, generous draping and a poetic softness woven into the structure. It felt like a meeting of two worlds.
Over at Maison Margiela, Glenn Martens kept everyone on their toes. His couture earlier this year was still on our minds, and now he’s taken ready-to-wear into an equally daring space. Raw seams, deconstruction, layers that felt both undone and masterfully controlled – it was Margiela’s spirit, alive and kicking.
And of course, Jean Paul Gaultier made headlines by returning to ready-to-wear under Duran Lantink. This wasn’t nostalgia – it was rebellion. Lantink brought in upcycled fabrics, gender-fluid silhouettes and cheeky nods to Gaultier’s signature corsetry. It felt like Gaultier, but also like the future.
What ties all of these together is a sense of rebirth. Paris this October wasn’t about playing it safe. It was about big names taking risks, legacy houses letting new hands sketch on their canvases. Some moves worked perfectly, others sparked debate – but that’s exactly what makes fashion week thrilling.
Walking out of the shows, onto cobblestone streets lined with golden leaves, I felt the same thing I always feel in Paris: that fashion is more than fabric. It’s conversation, it’s risk, it’s imagination stitched into reality. And this season, the conversation is louder, braver and more beautiful than ever.
There are fashion shows and then there are moments when the universe itself seems to bend into a catwalk. Chanel gave us exactly that this October, transforming its runway into a glittering galaxy. As the lights dimmed, planets seemed to float above the audience, constellations shimmered across the set and suddenly we weren’t in Paris anymore – we were orbiting in Chanel’s universe.
Matthieu Blazy’s debut for Chanel was always going to carry enormous pressure, but instead of being weighed down by heritage, he launched the house into the stars. There was tweed, of course – because what is Chanel without tweed? – but it was tweed imagined for explorers, dreamers, women ready to walk not just the streets of Paris but entire worlds. Silhouettes had a cosmic ease: jackets cut with sweeping lines, metallic threads woven through like stardust, airy dresses that floated as models moved like comets across the runway.
What struck me most was the balance. It wasn’t a science-fiction costume party – it was still Chanel, elegant and wearable, but daring enough to remind us why Paris leads the conversation in fashion. The set whispered of galaxies far away, but the clothes spoke of women here and now: strong, free, luminous.
When the final model walked out under that glowing planetarium, I couldn’t help but smile. Chanel wasn’t just showing us clothes; it was showing us possibilities. And in a season full of change, this cosmic runway felt like a declaration: the house of Chanel is not afraid to reach for the stars.
