AOC is not on a deliberate rollout of Chanel women. The queue just manifests itself as if it’s taking over editorial responsibilities on select occasions. We can’t help framing the situation in a way that Chanel CEO Leena Nair might gasp over.

Then again, the business honcho from Unilever — and in human resources, not marketing — who is the new whiz of luxury brands, won’t mind this AOC serendipity siege of the topic. because it’s “of the people”. Chanel’s clients — old and new — are writing the script. Creative director Matthieu Blazy and his studio of accomplished artisans are creating the tableau, but it’s actual humans — mostly women of all ages — who are deciding who wins and who loses.

While Dior was waging the biggest PR campaign ever in my memory, promoting Jonathan Anderson and photobombing him into countless fashion stories as “the Sun King is coming to save women from ourselves, when the topic is dressing appropriate for our lifestyle”, Matthieu Blazy was toiling away out of the spotlight.

The votes are coming in with greater authority every day. Chanel is the big winner in this competition. Whether or not it’s a win built to last will reveal itself going forwards. But Chanel has taken the crown.

Not only has Blazy created stunning fashion choices for women with financial capital; he has put Stephanie Cavalli, age 50, into the spotlight. What is there not to love with this vibrant model who recalls:

“I never know how to put this without sounding crass, but I was too old to be young and too young to be old,”

Stephanie Cavalli at Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2026 Paris

Valentino was known for lots of red elegance and red-carpet sophistication. But Chanel?

Cavalli wore red yesterday at Blazy’s Chanel Haute Couture Fall Fall 2026 Show. Perhaps red just suits her so very well.

After a very quick pass-though of 30 years, Blazy is just using more color generally than Lagerfeld or Viard. Yes, plenty of red but also an explosion of all color hues generally.

In this global June 2026 ELLE fashion story, Cavalli wears key pieces from last December’s first Métiers d’Art collection by Matthieu Blazy. [The New York subway show].

Nicole Heiniger [IG] captures Cavalli in all her glory for ELLE Brasil and ELLE Global. And we hope that this gorgeous woman goes stratospheric with the backing of Matthieu Blazy. If you were a woman VIC thrown to the curb by the new Dior damsels, which brand would you be running to — besides Fendi, of course.

Sorting Through the Experts on Who Loses the Most From Chanel’s Big Wins

This morning AOC had an in-depth meeting sorting through the multiple voices of analysis going on right now about who takes the biggest losses from Chanel’s stratospheric success. It was a fascinating exercise that helped us all feel clarity around the different possibilities — and who uses what kind of analysis.

Some of us agree — like Anne and Morgan Stanley — but for different reasons. We accept their arguments and Anne got plenty of respect in return. Their analysis is ‘hard’ and ours is ‘soft’.

We will lay out this work pronto, so AOC readers understand who is saying what — AND what is their lens of analysis. We will also delve into two new sources of major research targeted primarily at VIC women on this topic. The findings — especially about the American women — were stunning — and upending key beliefs of the institutionalists in France.