Chanel Spring 2026 Ad Campaign

Playing House

Review of Chanel Spring 2026 Ad Campaign by Matthieu Blazy with Creative Director Sheila Single and Photographer Alec Soth with models Aditsa Berzenia, Awar Odhiang, Bhavitha Mandava, Cathy Simmons, Josephen Akuei, Latahlia Hickling, Loli Bahia, Marta Freccia, Noor Khan, Trinidad Castaño, Waleska Gorczevski, & Xiuli Jiang

For his first campaign at Chanel, Matthieu Blazy does not storm the gates of history so much as quietly open the front door. Set within La Pausa, Gabrielle Chanel’s beloved Riviera villa built in 1928, the Spring 2026 campaign feels less like a declaration and more like an invitation – to wander, to play, to linger. Photographed by Alec Soth with creative direction by Sheila Single, Blazy’s debut unfolds with a kind of soft confidence, one rooted not in spectacle, but in spirit. If Chanel has spent recent years orbiting celebrity gravitational pull, this campaign gently turns the gaze back toward fashion itself – and, refreshingly, toward models.

There is something delightfully unfussy about the imagery. A model lounges across Coco Chanel’s bed as though she accidentally stayed too long after breakfast. Another leaps mid-air, hair wild, grin uncontained, transforming a grand bedroom into a stage for spontaneity. Outside, figures climb olive trees, gather in sunlit courtyards, and drift between rooms in a choreography that feels half family portrait, half artistic retreat. It is impossible not to notice the echo of those historic black-and-white photographs of Gabrielle Chanel herself playfully balancing in the branches with friends. Matthieu Blazy, wisely, does not imitate the past. He converses with it.

That sense of dialogue may be the campaign’s greatest strength. Chanel has always been a House built on contradictions – masculine and feminine, discipline and ease, polish and rebellion – and Blazy seems instinctively aware of this tension. Tailoring softens against movement. Embellished evening pieces mingle with effortless shirting. Models lounge, dance, and perch rather than pose stiffly. The clothes appear lived in rather than worshipped from afar. One gets the feeling that Blazy is interested not merely in preserving Chanel’s mythology, but in loosening its collar slightly.

There is also something quietly radical in his choice of casting. In an era where fashion campaigns often lean heavily on celebrity shorthand, Blazy instead assembles an ensemble of compelling models – Awar Odhiang, Bhavitha Mandava, Loli Bahia, Xiuli Jiang and others – allowing personality and collective energy to drive the narrative. The result feels democratic without losing aspiration, populated by women who appear to belong to the same world rather than simply sharing a frame.

Visually, Alec Soth proves an inspired partner for this first chapter. His photography embraces warmth over gloss, atmosphere over perfection. The light at La Pausa drapes the collection in softness, while the villa itself becomes more than a backdrop – it is a character, whispering reminders of Coco’s life among artists, dreamers, and provocateurs. Yet the campaign avoids becoming archival nostalgia. It remains contemporary because movement keeps interrupting reverence. Someone is always mid-step, mid-turn, mid-thought.

If there is a critique, it is only that the restraint may leave some viewers hungry for a stronger jolt of Matthieu Blazy’s own visual signature. The campaign is elegant, intelligent, and beautifully calibrated, but intentionally quiet. Then again, perhaps that is precisely the point. Chanel hardly needs another loud introduction. It needs trust, clarity, and a designer willing to listen before shouting.

For a first conversation, Playing House feels like a charming beginning. Matthieu Blazy hasn’t rearranged the furniture just yet – but he has opened the windows, let in some sunlight, and reminded us that even legends occasionally benefit from kicking off their shoes and climbing a tree.