In a year that’s zeroed in on mixed luxury results, reviving consumer connections and creative director moves and rumors, fashion has entered an interim phase. However, Paris Fashion Week had a significant impact in guiding the sartorial shift for the Spring Summer 2025 season.
As the week powered on through the incessant rain, PFW SS25 felt the pressure to break the mold of perceived ideas of clothing ‘perfection’. One of the persistent themes this season has been the yearning to free fashion from its quiet luxury styling and re-postable runways best suited to social media; think minimal Pinterest boards, monochrome Instagram feeds and softly-themed TikTok reels. The most thrilling shows—the ones who succeeded in doing this—left no room for playing it safe just for the sake of ‘good taste’.
As Jonathon Anderson put it post-Loewe runway, “There’s no point showing clothing for clothing’s sake.” The designer, amidst rumors of SS25 being his final season for the label, received a standing ovation for his spring collection steeped in studies on volume and movement, with hoop dresses and trapeze silhouettes taking on an otherworldly status. On the contrary, the usual other-worldly runway of Casey Cadwallader’s Mugler was pared right back to focus entirely on scaling its wearability, especially in denim and tailoring.
Another French house to flip the switch (in the most on-brand way possible) was Saint Laurent. Going from a season of see-through stocking dresses, the fully-dressed, fully styled, and the fully Yves-ness of the Saint Laurent show was a brilliant move to bring the YSL customer’s attention back to the clothing and its namesake. Demna Gvasalia was in a similar mindset toward changing the shape of fashion as we know it now, saying backstage at Balenciaga, “The time has come for fashion to have a point of view”. The designer took on the table-top runway to reveal an erotica-influenced boudoir-inspired collection complete with trompe-l'oeil lingerie, dresses that laced up all the way up the back and a variety of sinister cocoon silhouettes in leather bombers and sporty track jackets.
Miu Miu was also determined to style its way out of fashion’s clean, quiet sameness with scrunched-up sleeves, sweaters tied around the bust and mismatched sportswear and tailoring. The effect was youthful and witty, with luxe pool slide-clog hybrids and swimwear a sure-fire hit for the brand’s younger customer base. Sports, like in New York, were a running theme throughout Paris with bodysuits and activewear appearing largely at Dior, Hermès took a more youthful turn with soft and desirable utilitarian jackets and apron dresses styled over crop tops and sheer skirts.
The much-hyped Valentino show featuring Alessandro Michele’s first runway collection lived up to its artful and irreverent expectations. Just as Chloé began it last season, this Valentino tenure is set to usher in a new era of bohemia. Dries Van Noten was spotted near the backstage entrance watching the first Dries show without him at the helm; a throwback of the best of Dries. East-meets-west, layering that shouldn’t make sense but does, and plenty of color clashing and textural triumphs.
Elsewhere, Stella McCartney picked up on what Chloé put down last season, that is, an entire front row sporting the same lace-up knee-high sneaker for maximum traction. McCartney’s show was an ode to bird sustainability, featuring a feathery-looking mini dress made out of recycled plastic bottles to the tune of ‘When Doves Cry”. The same track was sung by Riley Keough atop a swing in a grandiose bird cage at the creative director-less Chanel show.
Courrèges by Nicolas de Felice was another standout. A refreshing take on minimalism, with the sleek, sparse show bringing barely-there bandeaus to the fore, something to keep an eye on for the season ahead. What else to keep an eye on? Classic leather biker jackets, bubble hems, oversized tailoring proportions, suede, and fringing kept a firm hold, while several shows doubled down on large portions of black and white looks, compared to the distinct palettes seen in other cities.
Read on for the major trends that defined Paris Spring Summer 2025.
La Boheme
It’s set to be a Chloé summer and fashion knows it. The Chloé renaissance kicked off with the label’s sophomore show under Chemena Kamali, whose romantic layers of lace, buttery leather, bloomers, long pendant necklaces, and general 70s flair was a favorite for fans and editors alike. The bohemian influence trickled throughout other big houses including Saint Laurent and Dries Van Noten completed with brocade prints and flowing blouses, as well as Isabel Marant, who showed suede and fringing with tasseled scarf dresses and Aztec prints. Zimmermann’s signature resort appeal followed suit with silk, broderie, and ruffles, while Valentino’s first runway under Alessandro Michele was the free-spirit summit of self-expression.
Super shoulders
Cocooned, 80s or razor-sharp, silhouettes hinged on the exaggeration of the shoulders got another look in this fashion month. Seen notably at trend-skewing Alaïa in New York, the Parisians continued where the French house, Willy Chavarria and Khaite left off; an entire collection of pagoda shoulders were seen at Balmain, Balenciaga took to foreboding shapes in leather bombers and blocky suit jackets, and Saint Laurent did straight-up Yves in oversized trench coats and androgynous tailoring. Anthony Vaccarello knows that whatever look Bella Hadid wears is going to be seen. Elsewhere, Schiaparelli’s cocooned and rounded shoulders were offset by pinched and corseted waists, while Louis Vuitton’s atelier flou was instructed by Nicholas Ghesquiere to create jackets, resulting in lofty shoulder proportions.
Bandeau ballet
Speaking of Alaïa… remember all those bandeaus styled with skirts from the Guggenheim show at NYFW? They’re big in Paris. At Balenciaga, Hermès, and Christopher Esber, the tiny tops and bralettes had an unexpected uprising this season, however, they left the Y2K-music-video notes behind; shall we say even a little more ‘demure’? Or perhaps they were totally expected—with the surge and availability of weight-loss drugs, the bandeau seems a logical choice to show off some skin. The look was most apparent at Courrèges whose club-bound bandeaus left little to the imagination but appeared right at home with skirt-pant hybrids.
By the hourglass
Continuing the play on proportion this season, the mini dress turned overtly feminine, cinched and doll-like in several outings this week from Mugler to McQueen and Loewe. While studying elongation and how to “push the body upwards” Jonathan Anderson continued his JW Anderson minis with Loewe versions crafted from 3D knitted sequins. At Victoria Beckham, undulating mini dresses with bubble hems were shaped from wired curves spiraling around the body.
Tricked-out tailoring
Fashion seems to have moved on from the back-to-work pared-back styling of last season’s tailoring, and is looking to have some fun. Mini-trend or not, the one-pant, one-blazer-arm looks at Coperni, Balmain and Victoria Beckham looked to be a taste of what’s to come for tailoring. Dior’s army of sporty warriors wore almost exclusively one-sided pieces including a white shirt that sat effortlessly off the shoulder, and Peter Do rendered chaotic proportions into elegant and alluring office wear. Christoper Esber intertwined soft draping into sharp suiting for an undone, yet very wearable, take on the evening suit.
Main Image Credit: Phil Oh
