Dear Gossips,   

There have been several big debuts at Paris Fashion Week over the last few days with new creative directors installed at major labels. But tonight might be the most highly anticipated… because it’s Chanel. Chanel was guided by Karl Lagerfeld for over 30 years and Virginie Viard was by his side for much of that time, so her era as creative director was mostly regarded as an extension of his. 

 

Today, then, truly represents Chanel’s new vision under the stewardship of Matthieu Blazy and expectations are super high given his previous work at Bottega Veneta. And this is huge because perhaps more than any other fashion house, Chanel has been the most constant in terms of creative leadership. There was Coco, and then Karl, and now it’s Matthieu. The hope is that he will modernise the brand while upholding its traditions. And we’re getting an idea of what that might look like ahead of the show. 

That’s a classic French bob, which happens to be the hair trend of the season, with a twist. I’m trying to figure out if that is fanning out from below the ears. 

 

There are also images of a dress shirt and brogues in the carousel below. 

Plus… a new ambassador. Ayo Edebiri has been named Chanel’s newest ambassador to kick off Matthieu Blazy’s tenure. That might explain why Ayo was not in LA last night for the premiere of After the Hunt. Chanel will want her in Paris to celebrate her new role and Matthieu’s first collection. More on Chanel tomorrow. 

 

While we’re talking about fashion house debuts, though, in addition to Blazy and Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Pierpaolo Piccioli for Balenciaga was a big deal too. He was super successful at Valentino and he scored two big wins for his new era with an unexpected shoutout from the Eras queen herself, Taylor Swift. She namechecks “Balenci” in one of the new songs “Wi$h Li$t” on her new album but also, in terms of celebrity gets, Balenciaga scored the biggest one yet for this PFW: Meghan Sussex. I love this for everyone. 

 

Because as we’ve seen this year, Meghan is leaning harder and harder into celebrity influencing. Why leave the British royal family and move to Hollywood and NOT go full Hollywood?! Like, we don’t need to show up at the People’s Choice Awards, lol, but showing up for Pierpaolo, known throughout his career as one of fashion’s most “thoughtful and humanist” designers is exactly the right kind of celebrity performance. And Meghan did perform. This is video of her appearance that’s probably been the most viral.

Basically… I’m that bitch. 

 

Meghan Sussex is serving skin and c-nt. The face is glowing, the expression is slaying. It’s minimalist fashion and maximalist attitude. And she’s not pretending she’s not enjoying which, by the way, is kind of showgirl energy, non? One of the prevailing themes of Taylor Swift’s new album is that, as Constance Grady wrote in Vox the other day, she is “done pretending she doesn’t absolutely love this life”.

Meghan’s vibe in Paris seemed to me to be… same, girl, same. 

And look at Anna Wintour’s reaction to that: 

 

It’s rare that Anna’s this obsequious. And for this long. Because it wasn’t just for a moment – Anna walked with Meghan through the crowd: 

It was exactly a year ago this week that Vogue announced the theme for the 2025 Met Gala, “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”. The theme for 2026 then, presumably, will be confirmed imminently. And we’ve been waiting for a Meghan Sussex Met Gala appearance. Is it finally happening? 

Yours in gossip, 

Lainey 

 

Meghan Sussex attended the Balenciaga show during Paris Fashion Week and was seen out in the city.
Photo credits: Best Image/ Backgrid, MEGA/ WENN

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