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# Does Chanel Need Menswear to Appeal to Men?
- URL: https://www.outsidethethread.com/does-chanel-need-menswear-to-appeal-to-men/
- Published: 2026-09-30T22:00:06.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-30T22:04:52.000Z
- Description: For a house without menswear, men are becoming remarkably difficult to ignore at Chanel
- Author: Andrea Nyenguet Roger

Chanel’s history has always been deeply intertwined with men. Mademoiselle Chanel famously borrowed from the men’s wardrobe to create some of the most fashion-forward clothes of her time, incidentally freeing women from corsets.

The Chanel tweed jacket, for instance, is said to have been inspired by one of Mademoiselle Chanel’s lovers, Hugh Grosvenor, the second Duke of Westminster. An avid hunter and fisherman, the Duke would usually wear the material for his outdoor activities. Coco Chanel started by borrowing his jackets and later created the Chanel version, turning a material associated with menswear into something quintessentially feminine. And to this day, no Chanel collection is complete without the jacket.

Years later, Karl Lagerfeld photographed men wearing the iconic jacket for the exhibition and book *The Little Black Jacket*, among them violinist Charlie Siem, designer Haider Ackermann and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.  
Under the Kaiser, men also started appearing on the Chanel runway as early as 2004\. Their presence gradually extended beyond the runway: Brad Pitt famously fronted a Chanel N°5 campaign and, in 2019, musician-turned-designer Pharrell Williams created a capsule collection for the brand which included menswear pieces.

This shared history between Chanel and men makes the choice of Matthieu Blazy as the house’s creative director even more significant. The designer has worked on collections for both men and women in the past and has developed a philosophy in which clothes are not necessarily defined by gender.

This was already visible at Bottega Veneta, where Blazy chose to show the men’s and women’s collections together, playing with volume and proportions to create clothes that could be worn by both. For the launch of the house’s unisex fragrances, the designer told the WSJ, “I don’t want to have anything gendered—zero \[...\] For me, in the world we live in, it doesn’t make sense.”

He now applies the same philosophy at Chanel. His first show for the house, the Spring/Summer 2026 collection presented at Le Grand Palais a year ago, was met with acclaim from both the public and critics. The opening silhouette reinterpreted the classic Chanel suit through masculine tailoring and feminine codes, setting the tone for the rest of the collection.

This perspective also reflects a broader evolution in fashion and popular culture, where the idea of masculinity itself is becoming broader. Men’s fashion is watched, dissected and analyzed more closely than before, while wardrobes are becoming increasingly gender-fluid. A new generation of men is emerging, wearing bolder and more experimental clothes. This can be seen in the streets, but also on red carpets with the likes of Timothée Chalamet, in the paddock with Lewis Hamilton, and even on the football pitch with Michael Olise.

In that context, Blazy’s approach to gender fluidity makes him the embodiment of Chanel’s DNA, feminine and masculine at the same time, but more grounded in his generation.

Yet the house continues to evolve without leaving its heritage behind. Chanel has long invested in preserving French *savoir-faire*. In 2002, Karl Lagerfeld launched the Métiers d’Art, an annual collection unique to the brand, showcasing and celebrating some of France’s finest craftsmanship. And over the years, Chanel has acquired ateliers including Lesage and Atelier Montex, specialized in embroidery, Lemarié in flowers and feathers, Maison Michel in hats and shoemaker Massaro. These ateliers have collaborated with the brand to create some of the most exquisite pieces for both the regular and Métiers d’Art collections.

This connection between heritage and modernity was also present in Blazy’s first Chanel collection. Silhouette 17, a simple white shirt with the name of the house embroidered in red on the side, quickly became one of the standout looks of the collection. The shirt, the first item of clothing Gabrielle Chanel borrowed from menswear, was created in collaboration with Charvet, the Parisian bespoke shirtmaker.

A few months later, in July, Chanel acquired Charvet for an undisclosed sum from the Colban family, who had owned the brand since 1960\. The acquisition follows Chanel’s long-standing strategy of preserving French *savoir-faire* while maintaining control over its supply chain. As men have become increasingly visible within the Chanel universe, it is difficult to ignore the fact that Charvet is mostly known for making men’s shirts.

In recent months, the brand has chosen men from different backgrounds, generations and industries as ambassadors, including Kendrick Lamar, Jacob Elordi, A$AP Rocky and Pedro Pascal. Together, they broaden the ways in which men can identify with Chanel and reflect a more open and fluid world, where there is no longer only one way to represent masculinity.

This growing presence of men has inevitably fueled speculation about whether Chanel might eventually launch menswear. Yet in May 2026, Chanel’s CEO, Leena Nair confirmed to Vogue Business, “The men’s line is not on the agenda \[...\] But we are so proud to partner with male ambassadors across the house.” Blazy doubled down on this the same month in a US Harper’s Bazaar profile, saying, “We will never communicate about the fact that we do menswear \[...\] There are just pieces that fit everyone.”

This is where Chanel’s current position becomes particularly interesting. As of now, a man can wear Chanel jewelry and watches, use Chanel beauty products, follow its ambassadors on social media, identify with the brand’s cultural universe and desire its clothes, sometimes even borrowing pieces from the women’s wardrobe, but still cannot buy Chanel menswear. The brand is investing in men, but not necessarily in menswear, at least for now.

By choosing this strategy, Chanel is setting itself apart from other luxury brands, creating a kind of singularity we rarely see in the fashion industry anymore. This is particularly significant at a time when brands are multiplying their points of contact with clients through category expansion and diversification. Fashion houses no longer sell only the *savoir-faire* they were historically known for. Hermès sells lipstick, Balenciaga sells sneakers, Louis Vuitton does High Jewellery and Cartier sells perfume. This allows them to reach different types of clients while creating a global lifestyle ecosystem around the brand.

Chanel itself was a pioneer of diversification. With the launch of Chanel N°5, Mademoiselle Chanel extended the house beyond clothes, making a part of the Chanel universe accessible to clients who could not necessarily afford its fashion. And yet, while Chanel has long understood the economic value of expanding beyond its original categories, it has never expanded into menswear.

In theory, the house could launch a menswear collection, but has chosen not to do so. Perhaps the absence itself has strategic value, creating desirability without availability. It makes the brand more exclusive in a supposedly more inclusive world.

A house whose history is deeply intertwined with the appropriation and transformation of masculine codes has never developed a traditional men’s fashion line. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Chanel’s current strategy is precisely that it doesn’t need to launch menswear yet. And maybe that’s **the Chanel paradox**.

*This article is based on publicly available information, including official sources and documented appearances. The opinions expressed are independent and reflect a personal perspective.*