Showmanship returns at Chanel as designer Blazy debuts under a sky of planets

PARIS (AP) — Showmanship returned to Chanel on Monday.

At Paris Fashion Week, its new designer Matthieu Blazy opened the season’s most anticipated debut beneath colossal celestial bodies — Saturn with its rings, a full solar system suspended above a jet-black and a mirror-bright runway — staking a claim for theater from the first second.

Reflections mirrored the cosmos beneath the runway, while a front row constellation — Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton, joined by Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos — gazed upward.

By night’s end, the room rose in a standing ovation. As Vogue's doyenne Anna Wintour has said, “fashion needs its showmen.”

Chanel had one again.

Founded in 1910, Chanel reshaped women’s wardrobes by replacing corseted silhouettes with ease — jersey, trousers — and later codified a global idea of Parisian chic through the little black dress, pearls and the tweed suit. Under Karl Lagerfeld in the 1980s, it became the model for how a heritage house can be both historic and relentlessly modern, its runway spectacles influencing the industry far beyond Paris. That legacy made Blazy’s debut more than a change of designer, but a test of how a century-old, multi-billion dollar institution continues to speak to the world.

The show capped a season dense with debuts: Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga, Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez at Loewe and Dario Vitale at Versace.

Yet Chanel’s moment felt singular for stakes and scale. By dialing down glitter, dialing up line, restoring theater and keeping the codes legible, Blazy positioned Chanel not as a museum of symbols but as a platform for them.

The opener functioned as a manifesto: an androgynous, slouchy pantsuit featuring low-slung trousers and an asymmetric jacket with structured shoulders. The looks split from the playbook of subdued designer Virginie Viard who parted ways with Chanel last year. They also shifted from late-period Karl Lagerfeld — one step closer to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.

The styles were not a reinvention of tweed, but rather menswear rethought through the founder’s origin story, when Coco wore the clothes of her lover the “Boy” Capel.

A hand anchored in a pocket made the point explicit: the freedom Chanel once placed in women’s hands — giving them trousers and pockets on them — restated. The spring 2026 collection, months in the making, read as an imagined conversation between Blazy and Chanel herself: thoughtfulness braided with showmanship.

Ribbons — rumored to be a sticking point between designer and atelier — were largely gone. Sparkle was sparse, a calculated risk in markets that prize high shine.

In their place came silhouette-first solutions and masses of feathers, with the camellia held as steady leitmotif. However far the line moved, the codes stayed legible — each look unmistakably Chanel. Tweed arrived interconnected rather than narrowly Parisienne — multicultural in palette and weave, intercontinental if not interplanetary.

Then came the fun wigs — what one critic termed the “funny little hats” — feathered, sly and intentionally light. They channeled Lagerfeld’s provocation about how he revitalized the once-dusty heritage house when he joined the helm in 1983.

“Chanel is an institution, and you have to treat an institution like a (prostitute) — and then you get something out of her," he said.

While Viard’s Chanel was often faulted for sobriety and restraint; Blazy, like Lagerfeld, deals in irony. At Bottega Veneta he staged frogs on heels, bunny-lapel coats and trompe-l’œil leather jeans. Here, plumage, proportion and wigs delivered the wink without tipping into theatrical costume.

Accessories set a new tempo: big hats, metallic bags, tiers of pearls, chunky gold chains and statement earrings — bold on paper, disciplined on the body. Handbags — the other reason Blazy was chosen — spanned crisp chain-strap updates and playful clutches, including a notable ovoid shaped like an egg.

The finale carried the argument in motion: a silky short-sleeve shirt paired with a multicolored feathered skirt with a long train. Color moved across the plumage and the black floor threw back its reflection.

“It was such a surprise. ... It’s exciting to be here for a new era," filmmaker Sofia Coppola told The Associated Press. “There are things you recognize from the house codes, and a fresh new look at it.”

Jing Boran poses for photographers upon arrival at the Chanel Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Leah Dou poses for photographers upon arrival at the Chanel Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

A model wears a creation as part of the Chanel Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented in Paris, Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The Golden Globes return Sunday. The boozy, bubbly kickoff to Hollywood’s awards season will feature nominees including Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Emma Stone.

The 83rd Golden Globe Awards ceremony begins at 8 p.m. Eastern at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, and will be televised live on CBS and streamed live on Paramount+.

Here are more key things to know about the ceremony:

The comedian and actor Nikki Glaser will return as host for the second year, after a well-reviewed 2025 debut when she became the first woman to host the show solo.

Glaser didn’t go easy on the Hollywood crowd, but wasn’t nearly as barbed as she was in her star-making performance in a roast of Tom Brady. In her first monologue, she called the ceremony “Ozempic’s biggest night.”

When she was rehired, Glaser said in a statement that it was “the most fun I have ever had in my career.”

“I can’t wait to do it again, and this time in front of the team from ‘The White Lotus’ who will finally recognize my talent and cast me in Season Four as a Scandinavian Pilates instructor with a shadowy past,” she said.

Last year’s telecast drew an average of about 10 million viewers, holding steady from the year before. There are far fewer viewers then there were a decade ago, but the Globes remain the most watched awards show after the Oscars and the Grammys.

Oscar front-runner “One Battle After Another” leads all nominees with nine, including acting nods for DiCaprio and Chase Infiniti and a directing nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson.

The Globes divides films between drama and musical or comedy in the top categories, and “One Battle” was categorized as a comedy. Competing against DiCaprio will be Chalamet for “Marty Supreme” and George Clooney for “Jay Kelly.”

Infiniti’s competition includes Erivo for “Wicked: For Good,” Stone for “Bugonia” and Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”

The Danish film “Sentimental Value” was second with eight nominations, including an acting nod for star Renate Reinsve. Her competition on the drama side includes Jessie Buckley from “Hamnet,”Julia Roberts for “After the Hunt” and Jennifer Lawrence for “Die My Love.”

Male actors nominated for dramas include Jordan for “Sinners” and Dwayne Johnson for “The Smashing Machine.”

Grande, Teyana Taylor, Paul Mescal, Adam Sandler and Jacob Elordi are among those nominated in the supporting categories.

“The White Lotus” leads all TV nominees with six.

You can see a full list of nominees here: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards

The presenters announced Thursday feature a mix of Hollywood A-listers like George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Queen Latifah, along with rising stars like the leads from “Heated Rivalry,” Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.

Additional presenters include: Amanda Seyfried, Ana de Armas, Ayo Edebiri, Charli xcx, Chris Pine, Colman Domingo, Dakota Fanning, Dave Franco, Diane Lane, Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Joe Keery, Judd Apatow, Justin Hartley, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan-Michael Key, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Hart, Kyra Sedgwick, Lalisa Manobal (Lisa from Blackpink), Luke Grimes, Macaulay Culkin, Marlon Wayans, Melissa McCarthy, Mila Kunis, Miley Cyrus, Minnie Driver, Orlando Bloom, Pamela Anderson, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Regina Hall, Sean Hayes, Snoop Dogg, Wanda Sykes, Will Arnett and Zoë Kravitz.

The Globes, held annually in early January, are the first major ceremony of the awards season. They’re not exactly an Oscar bellwether — they have an entirely different voting base of journalists and critics — but they’re embraced as a champagne-soaked party with some of the biggest stars in film and television sitting together at tables like a nightclub.

A Globes win can still help build momentum for a movie or actor’s Oscar campaign, and it’s the first time the public may hear an acceptance speech that may be repeated with some variations for months, leading up to the Academy Awards, held this year on March 15.

Helen Mirren will be honored with the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award for a life of work on screen, and Sarah Jessica Parker will get the Carol Burnett Award for her career in television.

Mirren and Parker this week will get a separate Beverly Hilton gala, a recording of which will air Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CBS and also stream on Paramount+ on what’s being called “Golden Eve.”

Mirren, 80, an Oscar winner for her 2006 portrayal of Elizabeth II in “The Queen,” has also won three Golden Globes and is up for a fourth this year for her role in the series “MobLand.” She was named a Dame of the British Empire in 2003 in acknowledgment of her artistic achievements.

The DeMille award dates to 1952, when it was given to the legendary filmmaker himself. Other recipients include Walt Disney, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Sidney Poitier, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Viola Davis.

Parker will get the much newer Carol Burnett Award, presented to an honoree who has “made outstanding contributions to television on or off screen.” The 60-year-old Parker, who won six Golden Globes and two Emmys as the star of “Sex and the City,” is being honored for her work as actor and producer.

The award was launched in 2019, when it went to Burnett. Other winners include Norman Lear, Ryan Murphy and Ellen DeGeneres.

For more coverage of the 2025 Golden Globe Awards, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/golden-globe-awards

Nikki Glaser rolls out the red carpet during the 83rd Golden Globes press preview on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)