Last month, Matthieu Blazy presented his highly anticipated debut collection as the creative director of Chanel during the Fall 2025 season of Paris Fashion Week. We’ve got a little while longer to wait, however, until we witness Blazy’s first official Chanel campaign. As the French-Belgian designer continues to find his footing at the helm of the fabled French fashion, the powers that be at Chanel HQ called upon Mario Sorrenti to capture the Cruise 2026 campaign offering. Echoing the collection’s presentation staged on Lake Como back in April, models-of-the-moment Ida Heiner, Alix Bouthors, and Xu Wei hit the upscale Italian resort, captured both out on the water and within the grounds of the famed Villa d’Este hotel.
Ida Heiner, Alix Bouthors & Xu Wei for the Chanel Cruise 2026 Campaign
Read below the reactions of theFashionSpot’s forum members:
“This is feeling Vuitton level bland now. Mathieu, please change course ASAP,” pleaded jeremydante upon checking out the campaign imagery.
“MK by Michael Kors capsule for Macy’s,” Creative shreiked.
“A bit cliché to have the show held at Villa d’Este AND shooting the campaign at the pool,” commented FashionPower.
Tigerrouge wasn’t exactly smitten, either, sharing: “This isn’t specific to Chanel, but I am done with brands producing fashion imagery where you’re supposed to want to spend thousands on their merchandise when they’re making the minimum of effort to entice you.”
“It all just feels very… pedestrian and inexpensive, which is the complete opposite of Chanel. The casting feels random and disjointed, and the photography from Mario Sorrenti feels very lacklustre here. Not get any sense of commitment or enjoyment from anyone involved,” echoed vogue28.
See more from the Chanel Cruise 2026 campaign and click here to join the conversation.
