Chanel Stages Its First Runway Show in Australia as Kidman, Robbie and Minogue Attend Sydney Cruise Restaging

Chanel staged its first official runway show in Australia on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, restaging Matthieu Blazy's Cruise 2026/27 collection at The Cutaway in Sydney's Barangaroo before guests including Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie and Kylie Minogue. The Guardian reported 1,300 attendees, 800 of them local and regional clients.

Nov 08, 2026 - 11:13

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Chanel staged its first official runway show in Australia on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, presenting a restaging of creative director Matthieu Blazy's Cruise 2026/27 collection at The Cutaway in Sydney's Barangaroo, with Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, Kylie Minogue and Baz Luhrmann among the guests, according to The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine.com.au. The collection, Blazy's first cruise line for the French house, debuted in Biarritz, France, in April.

Nine.com.au reported that the French house had never staged an official runway on Australian soil in its 116-year history. The Guardian reported that 1,300 people attended Thursday's two shows, 800 of them local and regional clients, and that the event took place on the same day Australian department store chain David Jones entered voluntary administration.

Two shows at The Cutaway

The first presentation took place at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, with Minogue in the front row, and a second at 6 p.m. was attended by Chanel house ambassadors Robbie and Kidman, Marie Claire Australia reported. The Cutaway is a space beneath Barangaroo Reserve on Gadigal Country dedicated to celebrating the culture and heritage of Australia's First Nations peoples, according to Vogue Adria.

The set built on the Biarritz design but emphasized the venue's natural sandstone, with an Art Deco-inspired interior spread across five interconnected rooms featuring mirrors, pale carpets and details evoking Gabrielle Chanel's private quarters at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris, Vogue Adria and The Zoe Report reported. The Guardian said the original baroque armchairs from the April show were shipped in from France, and Marie Claire Australia reported that ceramic vessels throughout the venue were made by Damion Fuller, a ceramic artist based on the north coast of New South Wales.

Chanel traditionally stages a smaller-scale repeat of its cruise show each November as the collection reaches stores, according to The Guardian, which listed Singapore, Hong Kong and Miami as recent destinations.

The collection on the runway

The collection draws on Biarritz, the town on France's Basque coast where Gabrielle Chanel opened her couture house in 1915. In a press release quoted by The Zoe Report, Chanel said the line "features the little black dress, the double C, the striped sailor top, along with other maritime inspirations."

Australian model Julia Nobis opened the show in a dress with a plunging V-neckline, according to ELLE Australia and Marie Claire Australia. ELLE Australia described a Chanel jacket embroidered with starfish and coral motifs, a classic skirt suit rendered in cotton crochet instead of tweed, and a shirt and matching jeans that appeared to be denim but were entirely embroidered with sequins. Accessories included knitted headwear shaped like fish fins, chilli-shaped pendants and a maxi Flap Bag made from raffia and embroidered with fish.

Marie Claire Australia reported that the closing look, worn by Nobis, had a fishtail hem and more than 126,000 iridescent heart-shaped sequins in shades of blue and green. ELLE Australia reported that two mermaid-inspired looks closed the show, worn by Nobis and fellow Australian model Josephen Akuei.

Australian models and the front row

The cast included Australian models Emma Balfour, Gemma Ward, Catherine McNeil and Charlee Fraser, along with Latahlia Hickling and Tatyana Perry, who made their Chanel runway debuts during Paris Fashion Week, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. ELLE Australia also named First Nations models Cindy Rostron and Tarlisa Gaykamangu among those who walked.

Nine.com.au reported that guests also included DJ Dom Dolla, former Olympic athlete Cathy Freeman, actors Olivia DeJonge and Joel Edgerton, Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Christine Centenera and model Mia Hewitt. At an afterparty at the Pier 2/3 event space in Walsh Bay, Kidman and Luhrmann introduced Minogue, who performed songs including "Can't Get You Out of My Head" and "Padam Padam," according to Nine.com.au.

The business case for a Sydney show

Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president of fashion, told The Sydney Morning Herald that such events are "about offering the best experience to this client, the existing one, and if possible, many new ones." He added: "At Chanel, we never design something special for one city or one market. It's the same collection, but through a new angle." Pavlovsky also said, "We felt this collection was quite good for a market that we want to grow."

The Guardian reported that half of Chanel's eight freestanding Australian boutiques are in Sydney and that the company made just over half a billion dollars in Australian sales revenue last year, according to documents lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. It put Chanel's global 2025 sales at US$19.3 billion and cited industry estimates that the Sydney event cost between $10 million and $20 million, not including travel and hospitality. The paper said Chanel mobilized an estimated team of 300 and used about 80 models, 50 of them based overseas.

Very important clients, or VICs, represent only 2% of the personal luxury goods market's customer base but account for almost half of its revenue, The Guardian reported, citing 2026 data from Bain & Company. Nine.com.au reported that many of the 150 international guests arrived on Monday for a week of activities, and that the show came ahead of the reopening of Chanel's refurbished Melbourne boutique on Flinders Lane.

A retail collapse on the same day

David Jones, the 188-year-old department store chain, was placed in voluntary administration on Nov. 5 after negotiations with landlord Westfield broke down, ABC News reported. McGrathNicol was appointed voluntary administrator, and the chain's 38 Australian stores and online business were continuing to trade under receivers from FTI Consulting, according to the ABC. The Guardian noted that David Jones had housed a Chanel shoe boutique until two months earlier.

A spokesperson for Destination NSW told Guardian Australia that such opportunities "help reinforce Sydney's reputation as a world-class destination." Speaking after the second show, Luhrmann told the paper, "It's a real coming-of-age moment."