Give Chanel an Inch, It'll Take a Foot
When artistic director Matthieu Blazy told Chanel's footwear design team that he had a new idea for the heel, who knew he meant it literally? At Chanel's Cruise 2026 runway show, several models strolled the sandy "runway" wearing sandals so slight that they hardly exist. This was Chanel, master of the feat, proving that it's also master of the feet
Especially for a fashion house famed for retrained elegance, Chanel's half-slippers are perhaps its wildest footwear since the Pharrell adidas. But this is a show of strength. Blazy's Chanel has drummed up spectacle with inventive venues but these half-sandals demonstrate that it can do statement product, too.
These little nothings are peak barely-there footwear, the pinnacle of the toe-shoe revolution that's led from Vibram FiveFingers hype to Balenciaga's Zero sandal to Chanel's heel sheaths. And of course they're outrageous. That's the point — they're one-third of a shoe! The only people buying these are women who own as many kaftans as they do houses. But you can't deny the novelty.
Chanel's presentation was held off-calendar, meaning that there wasn't any competition stealing eyeballs. Still, you can't force virality and every bit of the impressive buzz around the Chanel sandals was entirely organic. Again — they're one-third of a shoe. No wonder they saved this for the show after the one set in a New York subway.
Still, it's clear that this guy knows what he's doing. The Charvet shirts from Blazy's debut collection were a perfect example of the artistic director's eye for luxury with as much style as substance, and they worked. They became the first Chanel ready-to-wear item in forever to carve out a dedicated niche in the Lyst Index, a quarterly power ranking of fashion's hottest brands and items dictated by Lyst's enigmatic data.
And if the shirts were indicative of Blazy's gift for product, the full-toe shoes reflect his ability to attract attention for even something as dry as a cruise show. Like, no one even knows what season "cruise" is supposed to be. But we're talking about it.
Timing-wise, it was perfect. One day after Chanel's Cruise 2026 show, Lyst published its latest Index, declaring Chanel to be the hottest luxury label on the planet thanks entirely to Blazy's capable vision.
Just goes to show: give Matthieu Blazy an inch, he'll take a foot.
