By all logic, Chanel should be floundering. A global juggernaut without a captain, the house has been in limbo since the abrupt departure of Virginie Viard, drifting toward an uncertain horizon while awaiting the arrival of Matthieu Blazy in the fall.

PARIS (AP) — By all logic, Chanel should be floundering. A global juggernaut without a captain, the house has been in limbo since the abrupt departure of Virginie Viard, drifting toward an uncertain horizon while awaiting the arrival of Matthieu Blazy in the fall.Yet against all odds, inside the majestic Grand Palais, Chanel did what it has done for a century: endure. And not just endure. Dazzle. The Paris Fashion Week fall show on Tuesday unfolded beneath a colossal swirling black ribbon, an audacious centerpiece that coiled toward the ceiling, defiant and theatrical. It was a collection that could have been a placeholder lost in transition. Instead, it was sterling — refined, exacting and utterly Chanel.The front row was a collision of fashion royalty and Hollywood power. Naomi Campbell, Riley Keough, and Charlotte Casiraghi led the pack, joined by actresses Dakota Fanning and Simone Ashley, while music sensations Raye and AP Dhillon underscored Chanel’s cross-generational and global appeal.Bows, pearls and…

By all logic, Chanel should be floundering.

It was a collection that could have been rudderless, a placeholder lost in transition. Instead, it was sterling — refined, exacting, and utterly Chanel.