Don’t expect Chanel mania to die down anytime soon. Against the sweeping backdrop of the Basque coast, Matthieu Blazy presented his first cruise collection for Chanel in Biarritz today, in front of an audience that included Nicole Kidman, Michaela Coel, A$AP Rocky and Tilda Swinton front row.

The seaside town has a special significance for the brand: it’s where Gabrielle Chanel opened her couture house in 1915. But it also personal for Blazy whose father is from the Pyrenees and who would visit the Basque country every year as a child. In a pre-show statement, he described those trips as ‘a moment of great freedom.’

The collection continued Blazy’s unmistakable blend of viral desirability and impeccable craft with a mix of day and evening wear that had an easy, beachy sensibility. ‘It’s a collection whose very purpose is centred around the elements: the sea, the sky, the great outdoors, nature,’ he said. ‘Together with the teams … we designed a collection for women in motion, who walk, run, swim and move freely between indoors and outdoors.’

Blazy, only the third creative director of the maison since Chanel founded it in 1910, began his chapter at the helm in September and quickly cemented himself as an industry leader, fuelling the kind of social media frenzy that has sparked wait lists and long queues outside Chanel stores from Paris to London and New York. His cruise collection had no shortage of the joy, optimism, and inclusive casting that have become his trademark with technical, detail-rich pieces to keep clients happy including shimmery mermaid-inspired dresses covered in fish-scale paillettes, outsized raffia skirts and playful, striped swimwear references. Enormous tote bags and glittering shoes in every form, meanwhile, will no doubt keep those queues growing.