Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel Haute Couture debut transported showgoers to a fairytale garden, complete with giant mushrooms and blush-pink weeping willows. The collection was every bit as romantic, featuring sheer organza skirt suits with natural pearl hems, and fabric love letters tucked into light-as-air handbags.
Nature permeated every aspect of the show – down to the models’ bespoke manicures. The nails were overseen by session manicurist Ama Quashie, who tells British Vogue that, initially, the plan was for models’ nails to be “clean, perfect and bare”. But Blazy ultimately pivoted, and decided that a bespoke nail design should accompany the collection. The over-arching theme? Birds. “I looked through the bird references that [Blazy] had [displayed] on the wall – species that I didn’t even know existed – everything from the most amazing colour palettes of a tropical bird that has acid green and blue feathers, to ordinary pigeons.”
This being Chanel, plain old London pigeon-grey would not do. Quashie describes how the shade was undercut with “washes of iridescence”, to mimic the space between feathers. “The nails then became as individual and rare as each model – almost like an organism.” Like flora and fauna found in nature, the nails also needed texture, she says, pointing to how the manicures incorporated both a matte feel and smoother, shiny patches.
Armed with insight into Blazy’s vision: “Five of my assistants and I started by playing with colours, effects and lengths,” Quashie explains. “We came up with 50 designs – edited down to 30 – and presented those to Matthieu, who selected the final five.” It was decided that the nails should be mid-length, and a soft and round almond shape.
Some models wore shades of purple and green, to represent natural toxicity – a reminder that nature can be dangerous, as well as beautiful. “This took three different rounds of edits to perfect,” Quashie adds. The team didn’t approach the project as nail art in isolation, rather as an extension of the living, breathing atmosphere that Matthieu conjured with his couture collection.
Quashie shares that “everything from varnish to gel, magnets, pearlised and matte textures” were used backstage to create the looks. “We followed a multi-layered approach, using Chanel’s Alchimiste, White Silk and Sorciere specifically. During the final approvals, I was holding my breath.”
