Chanel

From Chanel Modes at 31 rue Cambon, Gabrielle Chanel freed women from the corset with jersey — a fabric then reserved for men’s underwear — and went on to write the century’s wardrobe: the little black dress Vogue called fashion’s Model T, the braided tweed suit, two-tone shoes, ropes of pearls, and in 1921 a perfume so successful it still finances much of the myth. Karl Lagerfeld’s thirty-six-year tenure from 1983 turned her codes into a living pop language, followed by Virginie Viard’s quieter stewardship.

Blazy’s arrival was the most anticipated debut in a decade, and his first show — staged under a planetary set at the Grand Palais — was received as a genuine event, the house’s codes cracked open with a craftsman’s hand. Chanel remains privately held by the Wertheimer family and remains, by most measures, the most famous fashion name on earth.