LONDON — Talk about signs of a London luxury rebound: Chanel’s New Bond Street flagship drew a long queue on Thursday morning for the launch of Matthieu Blazy‘s first Métiers d’Art collection in store, despite subway strikes paralyzing half of the city’s public transport.
On social media, some shoppers reported standing in line for up to five hours before crossing the threshold, describing the experience as exhausting but, in their view, worth the effort once inside. Chanel also offered complimentary Diet Cokes to those who waited outside.
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Speaking to WWD, fashion editor and influencer Bryanboy, who visited the Chanel location with several other top client friends on Thursday afternoon, said the store was “heaving with clients, but the flow was incredibly well managed.”
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“Everyone was being looked after, whether browsing or seated inside. You could feel the excitement in the room, with everyone eyeing what everyone else was getting. I was lucky to have booked an appointment far in advance,” he said.
As for what makes veteran luxury shoppers like him buy deep into Blazy’s Métiers d’Art debut collection, it was the breadth of it.
“From clothes to shoes to bags, there really is something for everyone. The quality is impressive, the pricing feels much more justified than in seasons past, and the pieces are moving fast. I got a blue jacquard knit jacket I had my eye on and a sequined leopard flap bag,” he said.
Before arriving in London, he had spent enough to pay for a lavish kitchen extension on the Métiers d’Art collection at the Chanel Rue Cambon flagship.
The Métiers d’Art collection was first presented in New York last December in the abandoned train platform at the Bowery stop. Models stepped off a “C” train onto an imagined Chanel platform, surrounded by a cast of characters that ranged from ’70s journalists and ’80s businesswomen to ballgown‑clad opera‑goers and even a Clark Kent‑style figure with a graphic sweater flashing beneath a sharp blazer.
Beyond the theatrics, the line is a showcase for the savoir-faire housed within Chanel’s le19M and affiliated artisans — embroiderers, feather‑workers, goldsmiths and milliners whose work translated in New York into handwoven leopard tweeds, silk “denim,” fringed Empire State Building skirts, and coffee‑cup‑accented accessories.
Just before the collection hit stores globally, the brand staged a repeat show of the collection at the soon‑to‑open Centre Pompidou Hanwha in Seoul last week.
Tilda Swinton, who attended both cities, told WWD that seeing the repeat in Seoul brought the looks “into even sharper focus without the drama of the subway.”
“To see these women moving in a way you can move in Matthieu Blazy’s work, which is probably not that far off what it was like to walk in the clothes made by Gabrielle Chanel. You’re liberated: you got somewhere to go, you go there. The clothes are very light, even the tweeds. They’re very movable. It’s a kind of freedom,” she added.