For those watching, the effect of Matthieu Blazy's debut @chanelofficial Spring/Summer 2026 Haute Couture show was immediate. “It was magnificent. Magnificent,” effused singer Vanessa Paradis, a long-time friend of the house, speaking after the show. “What is unique is that he’s coming into a very iconic fashion house, Chanel, with very specific codes and, since September, his first collection, he’s bringing so much of his personality and his talent. There’s major change. You can see it and feel it.”
JOSEPHEN AKUEI IN CHANEL SPRING/SUMMER 2026 HAUTE COUTURE BY MATTHIEU BLAZY FOR SIDE-NOTE VOLUME 5. AVAILABLE NOW EXCLUSIVELY AT SIDE-NOTE.COM.
Photographer @walterpierre_ Stylist @karla_clarke Artistic Director @stephanie_huxley Hair @jelisa.stylist Makeup @laurayard Manicure @yoanatg Cover story by @divya_bala Set Design @iviu_torre Videographer @salmiak.studio Producer Mona Perron @NILM Casting Director Leila Azizi @suunconsultancy@josephenakuei wears @chanelofficial
For his debut Haute Couture collection for @chanelofficial , Mattieu Blazy argued that freshness is physics, the absence of weight. Blazy did not imagine the collection in sketches, but constructed in proximity to the body through fittings and conversations with couture atelier chiefs. “It is about the body, but also the emotion of your own story,” explains Blazy. “This is what the wearer brings to the clothing.” With the collection, Blazy offered a reminder that freshness need not always arrive with impact, just the easy sensation that something has lifted. - @divya_bala
JOSEPHEN AKUEI IN CHANEL SPRING/SUMMER 2026 HAUTE COUTURE BY MATTHIEU BLAZY FOR SIDE-NOTE VOLUME 5. AVAILABLE NOW EXCLUSIVELY AT SIDE-NOTE.COM.
Photographer @walterpierre_ Stylist @karla_clarke Artistic Director @stephanie_huxley Hair @jelisa.stylist Makeup @laurayard Manicure @yoanatg Cover story by @divya_bala Set Design @iviu_torre Videographer @salmiak.studio Producer Mona Perron @NILM Casting Director Leila Azizi @suunconsultancy@josephenakuei wears @chanelofficial
From Florence to Paris, Marco Panconesi’s work traces a journey through fashion’s most influential houses. He’s created jewels and bags for Balenciaga, Mugler, Mulberry, Peter Pilotto, Fendi and Fenty, under rarefied tutelage. Now, his experience is distilled into a namesake label where jewellery shifts, transforms, and resists definition. “I hope people feel empowered when they wear my designs,” Panconesi tells SIDE-NOTE. “Jewellery is larger than life...It needs to elevate your spirit.”
Photography @rob.tennent
Words @kat_madd
The result of three years’ labour, the new additions to CHANEL Coco Crush Fine Jewellery are a lesson in contrast and restraint. Inspired by the quilted motif and designed to sit flush with the wearer’s skin, each piece conveys a suppleness not often found in the pieces we wear everyday.
THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WAY YOU’RE TALKING
Photographer @fionatorre
Stylist @karla_clarke
Art Director @stephanie_huxley
Hair @quentin_lafforgue
Makeup @dufresnemarie
Producer Mona Perron @nilmproduction
Model @ilyavermeulen
