COAST TO COAST: While many leading brands will be heading to the U.S. to present their cruise 2027 collections, Chanel plans to kick off the season in a location closer to home: the French coastal resort of Biarritz.
Creative director Matthieu Blazy is due to unveil his debut resort line for the house on April 28 in the town where its founder, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, set up a branch in 1915, the brand announced on Wednesday.
“Biarritz plays a fundamental role in the history of Chanel,” said Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS. “We are delighted that Matthieu Blazy has chosen this destination, so dear to the house, to present his first vision of the cruise collection.”
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Chanel found refuge in Biarritz during World War One, setting up a boutique and workshop in Villa de Larralde, a 19th-century building on the slope leading to the city’s Grande Plage promenade.
She had established her brand as a milliner in Paris in 1910, opening a couture atelier in 1912, as well as a boutique in Deauville, where she introduced her revolutionary sportswear aesthetic, liberating women from their corsets.
The designer is credited with introducing resort collections when she launched a line in 1919 designed specifically for the type of women who holidayed in Biarritz. Popularized by Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, the Basque resort has long drawn a cosmopolitan clientele, though nowadays it is better known as a surfing destination.
“The free-spirited and sporty atmosphere of this iconic seaside resort in southwestern France helped forge her vision of fashion and design, making Biarritz an essential chapter in the construction of her style,” said Chanel.
Coco Chanel acquired Villa de Larralde in 1918 and owned it until 1923. The company is said to be renovating the site as part of its ongoing program of restoring heritage locations, though it declined to confirm its exact plans. Chanel also supports the annual Biarritz Film Festival — Nouvelles Vagues, dedicated to youth-focused films.
Blazy has been making waves since his debut in October, modernizing Chanel with his fresh spin on codes such as tweed suits, quilted handbags and two-tone shoes. He presented his Métiers d’Art collection, timed to the pre-fall season, with a show on Dec. 2 in a New York City subway station.
Luxury players are courting U.S. customers in a bid to jump-start sales after a two-year slump. Dior will present its cruise collection in Los Angeles on May 13, while Gucci and Louis Vuitton both opted for New York, on May 16 and 20, respectively.
