Who is Matthieu Blazy, the new man at Chanel?

Matthieu Blazy has the whole fashion world watching his every move as he makes his debut at Chanel on Monday. But who is the 41-year-old designer?

The Franco-Belgian is relatively low-key compared to the celebrity couturiers he beat to the job -- and was poached by Chanel after a highly successful three-year stint at Kering-owned Bottega Veneta.

The new job is a massive promotion and career boost, taking him from a medium-sized Italian label to the world's second-largest luxury clothing brand with sales of around $20 billion annually.

Said to have impressed with his in-depth presentations during the recruitment process at Chanel, he embodies "a new generation with sincere humility", Chanel fashion president Bruno Pavlovsky said of Blazy when his nomination was announced last December.

The compliment about his character underlined one of his perceived qualities: the lack of a huge ego in an industry famed for them.

That is seen as a good fit for Chanel's discreet family owners, Alain and Gerard Wertheimer.

They were looking for a loyal figure to become only the fourth creative director in the brand's fabled history.

"Chanel is a privately owned family house," Serge Carreira, a fashion expert at the Sciences Po university in Paris, told AFP after Blazy's nomination. "The brand can take a long-term approach and allow time for things."

Blazy's biggest challenge will be moving the Chanel look on from the 40-year period defined by its legendary designer Karl Lagerfeld.

Until last year, the house was directed by Virginie Viard, the late Lagerfeld's handpicked successor.

- Creative edge -

Blazy won widespread praise for his work at Bottega Veneta, helping modernise the look of the classic Italian leather-goods house, making it more playful and daring, while also expanding its product range.

The Chanel job is a a huge step-up for Blazy, 41 / © AFP

He oversaw the launch of its first fragrances and high-end jewellery, and updated the brand's classic "intrecciato" woven patterns with hit bags such as Kalimero, Andiamo and Sardine.

One of his first projects was designing a pair of $7,000 (6,000-euro) jeans from leather printed with a denim pattern that made them look like the cotton versions.

His shows at Milan Fashion Week, attended by celebrities such as Julianne Moore and Jennifer Lawrence, quickly became "a top highlight, consistently among the hottest tickets", The Business of Fashion's luxury editor Robert Williams told AFP.

Chanel is a different scale, however, meaning that "the pressure to back up that creative edge with wearable designs is certainly a lot higher", said Williams.

Blazy soft-launched some of his first designs at the Venice Film Festival this year.

British film star Tilda Swinton was seen in loosely cut white trousers and a short-sleeved blouse.

- Raf Simons friendship -

A heavy smoker, often modestly dressed in just jeans and t-shirt, Blazy collects art and is close friends with Belgian fashion master Raf Simons, a mentor and former boss on two occasions.

Blazy grew up in Paris with his art expert father and historian mother, along with a twin sister and brother.

"Tom Sawyer was my childhood hero," he told The New York Times in an interview last year, referring to the free-spirited titular character of Mark Twain's novel.

His own teenage rebelliousness led to him being sent to boarding schools in France and England.

Having obtained his high school diploma, he went on to study fashion at La Cambre art school in Brussels and was hired after graduation by Simons, kickstarting a career that has seen him rapidly rise through major European and American labels.

He first came to public attention while designing as part of an anonymous collective that put together a collection for France's Maison Margiela in 2014.

British fashion journalist Suzy Menkes was so impressed by his work using rare fabrics that she "outed" him in an article in Vogue. "You can't keep such a talent under wraps," she wrote.

That helped propel him further, leading to jobs at Celine as well as Calvin Klein where he worked under Simons again, this time in New York.

Their two-year stint in the United States ended abruptly when they were fired in 2018, leaving Blazy standing in the street with a cardboard box containing his office possessions.

"It felt like a movie," he told The New York Times.