Players Magazine Two Best 2025 Fashion Calls: Mathieu Blazy at Chanel; A$AP Rocky Fashion Man

AOC has loved Carine Roitfeld forever, because she has an unusually clear voice on most topics. That voice gets her in trouble at times, but Carine knows that you can’t please all of the people all of the time.

In this website, the words ‘authentic’ and ‘authenticity’ are tightly-controlled. Carine Roitfeld has more than earned the descriptor.

Players is a 2025 project by Carine Roitfeld and her son Vladimir Roitfeld, focusing on the intersection of sports and style. The premium, large-format magazine features athletes and fashion icons in curated editorial content. 

AOC noticed this morning the “First Annual Players of the Year” where the Players IG highlights “the best dressed talent across sports, fashion, and entertainment” with one pick in a category.

Few fashion people are willing to pick just one ‘winner’ of a category, but it wouldn’t be Roitfeld with a top 5 or top 10 list in today’s media landscape. Now when it’s an actual vote from readers, 5 and 10 make sense.

Over at CR Fashionbook, there’s only one “important fashion moments” 2025 feature. Players wrote:

A$AP Rocky just became Chanel’s new house ambassador, right as Matthieu Blazy’s debut turns the industry on its head.

Like AOC, Players also called out Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford for creating their “favorite runway moment”. Ford has praised Ackermann's ability to capture the essence of seduction and mystery that defines the Tom Ford brand, seeing parallels in their work despite their different styles.

Ford has been supportive of Ackermann’s creative vision, which blends Ackermann's signature liquid lines with Ford's classic glamour. After Ackermann's first show, Ford was seen embracing the designer on the runway, showing his thrill and support for the new direction.

Younger readers may not know that Carine Roitfeld, Tom Ford at Gucci and Mario Testino formed a legendary “power trio” in the 1990s and early 2000s. While Chanel’s designer heavyweight Karl Lagerfeld was closest to Carine Roitfeld in an unusually tight relationship, he was very impressed with both Tom Ford and Mario Testino, defending Testino at the height of the #MeToo controversy.

Bottom Line: When Carine Roitfeld writes that Mathieu Blazy has just turned the industry on its head, that supreme compliment means a lot coming from Carine Roitfeld. She’s speaking about the emotional genius of Blazy’s Chanel — not only silhouettes, fabrications and findings in the show. Anne is with her 110%.

“PORTRAITS OF FATHERHOOD”

A$AP ROCKY x CARRIE MAE WEEMS x BOTTEGA VENETA

A$AP Rocky’s Ambassador role at Chanel is based on a much closer relationship between the entertainer and Mathieu Blazy than people probably understand.

At Bottega Veneta, Blazy ran this ‘Portraits of Fatherhood’ campaign in June 2024. A$AP Rocky shared a deeply personal film by Carrie Mae Weems focused on the mega talent and his sons, chillin at home.

As AOC uses the New Humanism term more frequently, this video helps to define the concept. And issuing explanations about the original Humanism — both religious and secular — of the Renaissance compared to New Humanism is a January 2026 priority.