PARIS – In December 2025, Chanel broke the internet with its Metiers d’Art show staged in an actual New York subway station.

Showcased through a cast of willowy models playing real women in the subway, the presentation was creative director Matthieu Blazy’s first take on Chanel’s annual Metiers d’Art collection, a range unique to the French luxury house and often considered its most creatively challenging (and fun).

It ended up being the second act in a string of hotly watched – and, some would say, orchestrated – fashion events catapulting Chanel and Blazy to unprecedented levels of virality.

Ever since the 42-year-old took the reins at Chanel, a new generation of shoppers has been thirsting for his whimsical collections.

By the time his Spring-Summer 2026 runway debut – first revealed in October 2025 – hit stores in March 2026, the people were feral. Tales of fashion editors, influencers and customers descending upon the brand’s Rue Cambon store in Paris to cat-fight for a piece consumed the internet, fuelled by its timely drop during Paris Fashion Week.

News publications and TikTok commentators alike documented the queues that stretched outside boutiques, from Singapore to New York. The New York Times called it the Hunger Games.