Away from the big stage: The SS25 highlights from Paris

With Paris Fashion Week concluding the grand fashion circus for spring/summer 2025, the French capital showcased everything one might expect from a fashion week. Highlights included Alessandro Michele's inaugural Valentino show, JW Anderson's 10th anniversary at Loewe, and literal fireworks during the Coperni presentation at Disneyland.

However, beyond the main stages, fashion week offered much more. Particularly in the way of relatively young brands—some already established, others complete newcomers—many of which aimed to step out of the shadows of the big names.

Physical digitalisation

As the world spins ever faster and becomes increasingly digital, several designers in Paris integrated this element into their collections. Instead of focusing solely on 3D design, they highlighted the hardware itself.

Duran Lantink, who recently received the Karl Lagerfeld Prize from the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, sent a rather simply cut, sleeveless white dress down the runway. The standout feature was a round screen positioned at waist height, showcasing the runway and guests in the front row. This evoked memories of the British children's series Teletubbies, where the titular characters also had screens in that location.

But it wasn't just the Dutch designer placing his audience in front of screens. Alphonse Maitrepierr, known for his gaming-oriented collections and upcycling approach, presented an entire top in the form of a computer screen reminiscent of the early 2000s. He also drew inspiration from video game controllers, which were incorporated into a bracelet or featured as button details on tops and shoes.

Beach fun

From the homebodies, we moved on to the active beachgoers who donned their finest swimwear.

Leading the way was Abra. Initially launched as a Spanish accessory label, the brand dedicated its spring/summer 2025 collection to Hawaii. The popular surfing culture of the US state was reflected in prints and looks inspired by wetsuits, complete with the classic Hawaiian flower. Swimwear was only sporadically seen, often appearing as prints.

Meanwhile, Duran Lantink seemed to have explored historical swimwear. He drew inspiration from the striped swimsuits of the 1920s, incorporating the red-and-white and black-and-white pieces into various items—from complete looks to bikinis. Some models even wore swimming goggles.

Maitrepierr made a brief foray into the nearby swimming pool, presenting a look that consisted of wide swim shorts and a t-shirt featuring a dolphin print.

Insight!

While the swimmers maintained a more modest approach, other brands offered a deeper glimpse. The play with transparent fabrics in tulle and lace was evident among several of the younger brands.

Brands such as Kiko Kostadinov and Luis De Javier particularly focused on white looks, while Florentina Leitner introduced colour to the mix. The Austrian designer showcased a mystical collection featuring a turquoise dress with a wide skirt and bow details. In styling, some designers like Leitner and Lantink embraced contrasts, pairing transparent pieces with dark trousers.

Useless!

As seen at Seoul Fashion Week in early September, some of the more experimental brands embraced pieces that played with dimensionality, recontextualising clothing.

Particularly popular was the reworking of trousers. Lantink transformed a pair of jeans into a skirt, while Swedish designer Ellen Hodakova Larsson, who received the LVMH Young Designer Award in September, converted tailored trousers into a dress. The pieces from both brands appeared two-dimensional.

At Ottolinger, the focus was on necklines. The Berlin-based label experimented with various collar designs, repositioning them to create a sense of asymmetry in the silhouettes.

More is more

Brands also created a new context for pieces by multiplying them and crafting new items. For instance, the Tokyo-based label Noir Kei Ninomiya played with various objects and accessories such as belts and suspenders, integrating them into a jacket or using them as part of a blazer.

Lùchen utilised multiplication more as an application. The New York label, founded by Lu Chen in 2021, showcased a mix of paperclips and feathers on a loose top. Hodakova took this trend to a new level, using various items such as leather boots, trousers, belts, fur hats, and buttons to create different dresses.

Inflated

The collections from the younger brands demonstrated that not only traditional fashion houses can deliver a grand show. They also proved capable of making a significant "inflated" impact, as seen with Ester Manas and Ottolinger.

The former, an inclusive label founded in 2019 by Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre, fittingly presented a massive inflatable elephant at the beginning of the runway, reflecting the collection title "The Elephant in the Room." Ottolinger, meanwhile, allowed models to enter through the jaws of a giant inflatable shark for their "Shark" collection.

Anrealage designer Kunihiko Morinaga saved his air for his collection "Wind," as the pieces were inflated with air. The various shapes and fillings resulted in a range of large silhouettes.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.DE. It was translated to English using an AI tool called ChatGPT..

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