Chanel’s teaser for its Métiers d’Art 2026 show doesn’t feel like an ad so much as a charming detour from reality. Directed by Michel Gondry and starring A$AP Rocky and Margaret Qualley, it plays out like a cinematic daydream: Rocky, in red silk pajamas, sprinting through New York to propose. Logic takes the day off.
Pairing Gondry with Rocky was always going to bend the rules, and Chanel has the good sense not to rein it in. This is Gondry in his element — playful, imaginative, and slightly mischievous — turning the everyday into something quietly magical. It’s luxury, yes, but with its sleeves rolled up. The varied use of speed, the blend of surrealism, and the low-fi, classically muted tones punctuated by pops of color. The craft is front and center, in all its glory, just begging us to ogle. (So. Much. Swoon.)
What’s refreshing is how little it tries to explain itself. No dialogue. No product shouting. Just mood, movement, and a very specific feeling. High fashion melds with real life. It’s fun, but never flimsy — a friendly reminder that whimsy is not the enemy of luxury.
And when the Métiers d’Art show lands, it all clicks. Set on an abandoned Bowery subway platform, the show turned a forgotten slice of the city into a runway — real train, real tracks — a perfect collision of New York grit and Chanel glamour. The same dream logic is scaled up into something theatrical and tactile, where craftsmanship becomes the main character. The film doesn’t sell the show, it sets the tone for it. Jaw-dropping. Awe-inspiring. Slightly jealousy-inducing.
Which might be the real takeaway. In an industry obsessed with speed, scale, and optimization, Chanel slows down, dreams a little, and trusts that artistry still has currency.
Even — especially — in red silk pajamas.
