Towering mushrooms transform Grand Palais for Chanel couture show

French fashion house Chanel filled Paris's Grand Palais with Alice in Wonderland-style mushrooms and real trees, which created a runway for the brand's Spring Summer 2026 haute couture show.

The presentation took place on Tuesday as part of Paris Couture Week at the Grand Palais – a landmark exhibition hall that has hosted many Chanel shows over the years and was restored in 2024 with support from the French fashion house.

Chanel creative director Matthieu Blazy unveiled his first haute couture collection for the house amidst a curved arrangement of towering mushroom sculptures finished in sugary pink, red and yellow hues.

Designed to evoke a mystical clearing in a forest, the runway was formed from a large circular space surrounded by real willow trees coloured a distinctive shade of pink.

The fashion house said that the trees will be cleaned, pruned and replanted in a Parisian nursery following the show.

Blazy and his team positioned the toadstool-like mushrooms in a spiralled formation to form the runway, interspersed with curved benches to provide seating for guests.

Like real mushrooms, the oversized sculptures were characterised by hooded caps, frilly gills and curving stems. After the show, they will be repurposed for various art, cultural and film projects, the house said.

Toadstool-style spots featured on top of the largest mushrooms, nodding to otherworldly fairytales and fantasy stories such as Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

The soft, pink-toned scenography created a stark contrast with the architecture of the Grand Palais' atrium, which is formed from over 6,000 tonnes of steel.

Models stalked the mushroomy landscape in a series of looks informed by birds, from raven-black tailoring to intricately embroidered silhouettes that recall plumage.

"Haute couture is the very soul of Chanel," said Blazy. "It is the foundation and the full expression of the house."

Earlier this month during Paris Fashion Week Men's, fellow French brand Louis Vuitton constructed a minimalist prefabricated timber house as the set for its Autumn Winter 2026 show.

Last year, designer Willo Perron created a sculptural curving runway for Chanel's Spring Summer 2025 show, also at the Grand Palais.

The photography is courtesy of Chanel.

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