Don't Give up Your Chanel Menswear Dreams
Chanel menswear is one of fashion's great white whales. And why not — isn't it a little bit wild that Chanel, one of the industry's biggest names, is also one of the few remaining holdouts of men's clothing?
But the late 2024 appointment of Matthieu Blazy, former Bottega Veneta creative director, to Chanel's top spot, surely signaled some change in that department.
Surely not, more like.
Given all the celebrity moments that've transpired over the past few months, it felt like Blazy's October Chanel debut was sure to be a kickoff for Chanel menswear.
Kendrick Lamar, who oversaw the direction of a 2024 Chanel runway show and himself has worn a good bit of Chanel, finally became a Chanel ambassador. Fellow Chanel ambassador Lupita Nyong'o wore menswear-leaning Chanel couture to the 2025 Met Gala. And Timothée Chalamet, the Bleu de Chanel man, began wearing tiny Chanel shoulder bags (and, perhaps even more intriguingly, True Religion jeans)
All the while, a handful of famously stylish dudes, including some who were dressed by Blazy during his Bottega Veneta tenure, began showing out in Chanel of their own.
Recall that Blazy's Bottega had been a smash with both men and women alike, luxury catnip of a stripe not seen since Balenciaga's heyday.
This had to have been a hint at future Chanel menswear happenings.
Or not. At least, not officially. In a late May interview, global Chanel CEO Leena Nair all but shot down the rumors.
“ It’s going to be the same answer," she told Vogue Business. "No, we are not planning to enter men’s.”
Bad news, boys. Unless...
Chanel may not be stepping into menswear proper but would it be so farfetched to hope that Chanel might enact a menswear-ish program akin to Miu Miu?
Technically speaking, there is no dedicated Miu Miu men's category. Instead, the Prada-owned luxury label quietly began offering clothes and shoes in an expanded selection of "menswear" sizes.
It's Schrödinger's luxury label. Though Miu Miu "menswear" is listed at certain retailers and several famous dudes have been seen wearing it, it does not formally exist. This is merely menswear-sized Miu Miu.
As such, not too crazy to imagine that Chanel under Blazy might adopt a similar approach. That is, in place of a dedicated menswear line, what if Chanel simply expanded its ready-to-wear and footwear sizing?
This would allow the company to avoid "entering men's," as Nair put it, while quietly catering to an increasingly ungendered audience.
The Chanel menswear dream isn't over! If you want it. Simply size up and pray for fashion's final inevitability.
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