Matthieu Blazy gives Chanel's winter wardrobe a retro-sport makeover

Chanel's Coco Neige 2026 campaign brings bold color, playful alpine references and a distinctly relaxed attitude to winter dressing, offering another glimpse of how Matthieu Blazy is reshaping the house beyond the runway

Winter dressing at Chanel has traditionally occupied a rather glamorous altitude. Since its introduction in 2018, Coco Neige has brought the house's familiar codes into the world of ski resorts, technical outerwear and après-ski wardrobes, where practicality and luxury are expected to coexist, preferably somewhere with an excellent mountain view. For 2026, Matthieu Blazy has decided that the whole experience could use a little more personality.

His first Coco Neige collection introduces a spirited retro-sport aesthetic, replacing some of the familiar alpine polish with bold primary colors, relaxed proportions and an unexpectedly playful approach to winter accessories. The accompanying campaign, photographed by Julien Martinez Leclerc and featuring Elodie Guipaud, Feng Jiao Long and Lia Marie Mielke, places the collection against snowy landscapes, frosted trees and traditional mountain architecture. The setting is picturesque, but the clothes are considerably less interested in behaving like conventional luxury ski uniforms.

Red provides much of the collection's visual energy, appearing alongside electric blue, yellow, graphic stripes and colorful checks. Loose-fitting ski jackets and jumpsuits bring a slightly boyish attitude to the silhouettes, while Chanel's recognizable tweeds and knitwear are worked into combinations that feel closer to vintage winter sportswear than the usual carefully coordinated resort wardrobe.

The result is particularly interesting because Blazy has resisted the temptation to make every piece look overtly luxurious. There is a cheerful practicality to the collection, with padded outerwear, wool layers and relaxed separates that suggest clothes intended to be worn rather than simply photographed beside a ski lift.

A little less alpine perfection

Accessories provide some of the collection's most entertaining moments. Oversized chapka hats, plush mittens and shearling-lined footwear introduce an exaggerated coziness, while shield sunglasses and colorful nylon bags bring a distinctly sporting edge.

The handbags are especially revealing of Blazy's approach. Chanel's familiar flap silhouette appears in nylon, while bowling bags and generously proportioned shoppers introduce shapes and materials associated more closely with casual travel and sportswear. Shearling versions offer a softer alternative, emphasizing texture rather than polished formality.

These pieces demonstrate how Chanel's accessories can evolve without abandoning the house's visual identity. The familiar signatures remain, but their proportions, materials and styling become opportunities for experimentation.

There is also humor in the collection's decorative details. Penguins and polar bears appear among the winter references, while bold color combinations and deliberately cozy accessories prevent the clothes from becoming overly precious. It is a welcome departure from the assumption that luxury winter dressing must always communicate immaculate sophistication.

Blazy's Chanel is becoming a complete wardrobe

The significance of Coco Neige 2026 extends beyond its seasonal appeal. Since arriving at Chanel, Blazy has demonstrated an interest in reconsidering the house's established vocabulary through movement, material and the way people actually wear their clothes. His approach has often been less concerned with preserving a perfectly composed image of Chanel than with making its familiar codes feel personal and alive.

Coco Neige offers another setting in which to explore that philosophy. Unlike a major runway collection, a winter capsule must accommodate relatively specific practical demands. Warmth, comfort and protection from the elements matter alongside silhouette and visual identity. Those constraints could easily produce a predictable assortment of luxury-branded ski essentials.

Instead, Blazy has used them to explore a different side of Chanel. The relaxed proportions, sporting references and playful accessories introduce an informality that feels consistent with his broader creative direction, while giving Coco Neige an identity beyond expensive alpine dressing.

Not every garment is intended for serious athletic performance, of course. Luxury ski collections have always occupied the territory between functional sportswear and the social rituals surrounding winter holidays. Chanel understands that a customer might be just as interested in the chalet, the journey and the après-ski wardrobe as the skiing itself.

What makes this collection appealing is that it embraces those contradictions without taking them too seriously. There is room for technical nylon alongside tweed, for oversized mittens beside polished handbags, and for an unmistakably Chanel silhouette to appear in colors that would look perfectly at home on a vintage ski poster.

Coco Neige 2026 suggests that Blazy's interpretation of Chanel is becoming increasingly versatile. The house can still deliver the refinement its customers expect, but it can also be sporty, colorful, comfortable and occasionally rather funny. Winter at Chanel has become a little less formal, and considerably more fun.