A young man, born in Paris, decides to become a fashion designer and studies in Brussels. He enters various juried contests that bring him to the attention of people in the industry. He interns and later holds key design posts at Maison Margiela, Celine, and Calvin Klein where he is fired. He finds himself standing on a street in Manhattan with a box of his belongings, as if in a movie. Eventually, he becomes creative director of Bottega Veneta, the Milan luxury brand, where he achieves modest renown for his flourishes in leather and knitwear.

On Monday night, the man, Matthieu Blazy, now 41, entered the Grand Palais from the wings, trotted to the center, where he embraced the model Awar Odhiang, and then made a deep bow as Chanel’s new creative director as 2,000 people stood in rapturous

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