CHANEL just unveiled its Fall-Winter 2025/26 Haute Couture collection, and it’s less about flashing lights and more about golden fields, moody moors, and the quiet power of nature. Presented in the Salon d’Honneur of the Grand Palais (transformed by designer Willo Perron into a space evoking the intimate spirit of 31, rue Cambon), the show felt like an elegant escape to the countrysid, English, Scottish, CHANEL-fied.
A Breath of Fresh (Highland) Air
Rooted in the pastoral poetry that once inspired Gabrielle Chanel herself, the collection is a modern ode to wide-open spaces. Think: the softness of the moors, the stillness of the forest, and the quiet luxury of tweed made to look like fur or knitwear. The CHANEL Creation Studio has reimagined winter staples in a way that feels both rustic and regal, with earthy tones of ecru, green, plum, and ivory leading the way.
Tailoring with Freedom in Mind
There’s nothing restrictive about these silhouettes. Borrowing proportions from menswear, suits are designed to move, and move freely. From long gilets and mohair separates to tailored coatdresses and drop-shoulder jackets, each look flows effortlessly, as if caught in a gentle countryside breeze.
Tweed, But Make It Couture
This season, tweed is anything but expected. It mimics the softness of sheepskin in ivory shorts, shape-shifts into faux fur alongside feathers, and even takes on a knitted guise in pieces that blur the line between jacket and jumper. It’s texture heaven, layered, blended, and brilliantly refined.
Harvest Season, the CHANEL Way
Nature isn’t just in the palette, it’s in the details. Wheat, a cherished symbol of abundance for Mademoiselle Chanel, appears everywhere: feathered into flounces, embroidered onto gowns, and sculpted into golden jewel buttons. It brings a sense of continuity, a link between the house’s history and its ever-evolving codes.
Florals, too, bloom in their own couture rhythm, popping up in multicoloured embroidery on pea coats and satin crêpe dresses that feel like walking gardens. And just when you think the mood is all mist and moss, golden sunlight breaks through in metallic lace, lamé flounces, and embroidery that glows like a late afternoon sun.
Nature Meets Modernity
This collection doesn’t scream, it whispers. And in those whispers, you hear the timeless values of CHANEL: elegance, ease, movement, and meaning. It’s a reminder that modernity doesn’t always come wrapped in chrome, sometimes, it’s tucked in a quiet, green field, stitched into a tweed jacket, or woven into a wheat motif.
With this season’s couture, CHANEL isn’t just walking the runway, it’s wandering through the wild, and redefining luxury along the way.
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