Chanel just staged its first runway show in Australia

Chanel has never put a runway on Australian soil. That changed on Thursday, November 5, 2026.

The house restaged Matthieu Blazy’s debut Cruise 2026/27 collection at The Cutaway in Barangaroo, Sydney. The Sydney Morning Herald and ELLE Australia both call it Chanel’s first runway show in the country. There were two sittings, at 2:30 PM and 6 PM local time, with an after-party after the evening show.

What “replica” means here

This was not a new collection. Blazy first showed Cruise 2026/27 in Biarritz in April, in the seaside town where Gabrielle Chanel opened her first couture house in 1915. Sydney got a full restaging of that show, the format Chanel often uses to bring cruise and Metiers d’Art looks to local clients.

Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of fashion, told the Sydney Morning Herald the point is emotional. “It’s about offering the best experience to this client, the existing one, and if possible, many new ones,” he said. He also stressed Chanel does not redesign a collection for one city. “It’s the same collection, but through a new angle.”

Another view inside The Cutaway at Barangaroo — Inside The Cutaway at Barangaroo. Photo: Qwerty123M, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Venue interior; not a show still.

Who sat front row

House ambassadors Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie attended, ELLE Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald report. Kylie Minogue, Baz Luhrmann, Dom Dolla and Australian designer Jenny Kee were also there, per the Herald. Blazy himself was not in Sydney, ELLE Australia notes.

Australian models who walked the original Biarritz show, including Julia Nobis and Josephine Akuei, were back on the runway. Gemma Ward, Catherine McNeil and Charlee Fraser joined them, along with newer Chanel faces, the Herald reports.

Video: "CHANEL Cruise 2026/27 Show", CHANEL on YouTube.

Why Sydney, and why this collection

Pavlovsky told the Herald the Biarritz link mattered more than a simple beach parallel. Biarritz is where Chanel set up her first atelier and where the little black dress’s early ideas took shape. Blazy’s cruise look draws on that history: jersey, fluid silhouettes, raffia, crochet, and what ELLE Australia describes as feathers and fish-scale sequins.

The Sydney shows also sit next to a shop move. The Herald says the Flinders Lane boutique in Melbourne is set to reopen after a large renovation next week. Chanel opened its first Australian boutique in Sydney in the 1980s.

Barangaroo and Sydney CBD skyline viewed from Balmain — Barangaroo and the Sydney CBD from Balmain. Photo: William Thorpe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Grande Plage beach in Biarritz, France — Illustrative image. Grande Plage in Biarritz, where Blazy first showed this cruise collection in April. Photo: Christian David, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What clients see next

Cruise 2026/27 reaches boutiques around the Sydney dates. Pavlovsky’s line to the Herald was simple: make people feel joyful. “If they’re in a good mood: job done.”

Press runway photos from Thursday belong to agencies and outlets. We are not republishing them. Use the official Chanel show film below for the clothes, and the licensed venue photos above for place.