AnOther Loves: A Biarritz-blitz Beach Bag

Matthieu Blazy redefines the humble beach bag in honour of Chanel’s long history with the seaside

Chanel has a long history with beaches – not just those 1991 wet-look wetsuit-inspired sequinned mini-dresses designed by Karl Lagerfeld, although those are fantastic enough alone. Gabrielle Chanel first sold clothes on the beachfront in Deauville, and filched her signature jersey fabric from the underwear worn by sailors nearby. And, as just about everybody now knows after Matthieu Blazy’s sensational Biarritz-blitz of a Chanel cruise show on Tuesday, it was in that seaside resort that Coco went loco and first made a couture collection under her own name, rather than in Paris as you may expect. So Chanel’s close to the beach, and the beach is close to Coco. Indeed, the house has an annual collection called Coco Beach which is dedicated to fabulous swimsuits and cover-ups and dresses often wriggling with fish and subterranean flora that pay overt homage to its nomenclature. Technically, this chain-strapped number – actually shown in Blazy’s first show back in October – is from that aforementioned beach-based collection, hence its tufty towelling-y texture and fuzzed stripes that remind you of submerged patterns, or maybe bleary, rain-sodden deckchairs on the somewhat less salubrious English riviera. A beyond-deluxe redefinition of the humble beach bag. 

The Chanel Coco Beach collection is available in-store only.