Chanel made its big comeback in New York yesterday with its Métiers d’Art show the first under Matthieu Blazy’s “little pompadour,” a trial by fire that sent a jolt through the city, or at least through everyone who knew where the subway entrance actually was.

Because yes, right in downtown Manhattan, under 168 Bowery at the edge of Chinatown maybe a sign literally on the decommissioned platform of the Bowery station (its name supposedly coming from the Dutch bouwerij, meaning “farm” or “building”), a place where even the rats think twice before going… but for fashion sharks, it was child’s play. Chanel set up its runway exactly where Tom Ford staged his show in 2020, only this time the vibe was less “abandoned transit hellscape” and more “couture chic with a touch of No.5.”

Among the brand ambassadors and celebrities was, most importantly, my favorite actress, Margaret Qualley, who was probably setting foot in the subway for the first time in her life. A historic moment practically anthropological for “The Substance” of Fashion (cinephiles, that one’s for you).

At the bottom of the stairs, Chanel’s platform blended a perfectly “Barrere-level” Paris with New York grit; between the two: the elegance of a silk whisper and the hum of trains deliberately absent for the evening, leaving behind just a hint of artistic dust.

Before the show even began, the subway had already stolen the spotlight in a Michel Gondry–directed short film starring Qualley and A$AP Rocky a rom-com where an unlikely, gloriously mismatched couple tries to find love between two stops and one imaginary train.

As for the collection, it was Chanel through and through: a beige sweater and blue jeans layered over a white T-shirt structured like a Midtown high-rise.

The runway opened with models stepping out of a subway car, weaving their way down the platform like true New Yorkers determined, impeccably dressed, and above all, entirely capable of ignoring absolutely everything around them. A subway where, for once, nobody complained not even the MTA. But to really get this text, you kinda have to have lived in New York.

FM