Chanel couture gets a breath of fresh air and stars. Armani revamps

Fashion powerhouse Chanel stacked the Paris front row like a movie premiere Tuesday: Nicole Kidman, Dua Lipa, Penélope Cruz, A$AP Rocky, Gracie Abrams, Margaret Qualley.

Then, it handed the spotlight to its new designer, Matthieu Blazy, for his much-anticipated couture debut built on one big, confident swing: joy.

Inside the Grand Palais, the house went full fantasy.

The set was a dream-garden of candy-colored trees and giant pink-and-red mushrooms: a surreal antidote to the gray January day outside, and to the even heavier mood of the world beyond the doors.

Before the first look, Blazy even teased the mood with an animation film of woodland animals at work in the Chanel ateliers, “Cinderella” style: a wink that said this would be couture, but not grim.

Then came the clothes, and the message landed fast: lightness.

Codes made weightless

Blazy took Chanel’s most famous codes — the suit, the pearls, the