From standout shows at London Fashion Week to Fendi’s 50th anniversary celebration in Milan to the Great Designer Reshuffling at Paris Fashion Week, it’s safe to say this fashion month has been anything but business as usual. Stars like BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Katie Holmes and Jessica Alba lit up the front row and there were plenty of surprise performances by the likes of Doechii at Dsquared2’s show that added to the usual buzz.
On the runway, an OTT eclecticism washed over the catwalks. Compared to the all-out optimism immediately following the pandemic, followed by the quiet luxury trend that attempted to counterbalance it, this season designers focused on everyday glamour and a return to true personal style. Think clever layering and day dresses crafted like couture.
Perhaps designers are answering the call for more unique ways of dressing, with everyone suffering from trend fatigue and pervasive sartorial sameness. Whatever the reason, the recent push for effortless yet innovative styling is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Below are the biggest trends we saw across Fashion Week AW25, some of which are so good we can’t wait to start implementing ASAP.
BELT IT OUT
We’ve seen this with bag charms and gloves in the last year, but small leather accessories have become the go-to for the style set to add a bit of personality to their looks – usually by layering them up to add an element of sartorial irony. According to designers on the runway this season, belts would appear to be the next fashion frontier. At Victoria Beckham, belt loops were added not to trousers, but to knit tops, where a belt is then used to cinch the waist way above the hips. Meanwhile, Korean designer Rokh swung in the opposite direction, adding his belts which featured multiple buckles to peplum dresses well under the hips. Schiaparelli styled their surrealist looks with not one, or two but three or more belts, making them the centre of the design. The good news about this trend? No need to wait till autumn. Go ahead and layer up now.
WORKS OF ART
It’s no secret that fashion and art often cross-pollinate one another for inspiration, but designers have reverted to more literal applications this season. Roksanda drew inspiration from the late artist and sculptor Phyllida Barlow who often used discarded materials to create her work, while Erdem’s collection had painter Kaye Donachie’s portraits of his late mother Marlene printed on gowns and opera coats alike. Impressionist paintings, with their dreamlike, abstract forms found their way onto many collections, creating soft, alluring palettes for autumn.
TAKE A BOW
There may be fewer tutus on the runway this season compared to the last (sorry Balletcore), but don’t worry, our love affair with ribbons is in no danger of ending (phew) — they’re just made to look a little more grown up by our favourite designers. Alaïa had slinky dresses lined with bows all along the side, Jil Sander sprinkled mini ribbons all over pretty satin gowns while Richard Quinn decided to go big with giant bows featured at the front of his dramatic creations. The lesson here? More is more when it comes to this pretty trend.
SEVERANCE STYLE
Remember the Office Siren trend we talked about? As an increasing number of companies are implementing return-to-office policies, designers have heard our call for chic corporate-core, with designers like Stella McCartney and Tom Ford taking a page out of Apple’s cult TV show Severance and putting their spin on super-serious suits. Crisp blazers are paired with bold cobalt shirts and several designers opted for oversized silhouettes. Tongue-in-cheek styling is key to keeping the outfit looking too stuffy, as evidenced by Toga and their clever use of the undone bow tie as an accessory. We want boardroom-chic, not boring.
HAIRY SITUATION
Who *didn’t* have a fur look this season? Like it or not, fur (both faux and real) have come back into our sartorial lexicon in a big way — literally. From hulking fur coats to fur-trimmed everything, nearly every designer sent a shaggy coat down the runway for autumn/winter 2025. Of course, fur is a contentious issue in fashion with its unethical implications for animal cruelty. Thankfully given the technological advances, many fashion houses have been able to use faux fur to create equally striking designs.
If we were to name every single one of them we’d be here all night, but some standout styles came from the likes of Gabriela Hearst, a Uruguay-born designer best known for her ultra-luxury sustainable designs, Stella McCartney, who also puts sustainability at the core of her work, and Alexander McQueen, whose parent company Kering is well known for its initiatives to ensure the protection and sustainability of natural resources through their fashion brands. All featured faux fur designs.
CASUAL COUTURE
Conceptual designs are usually reserved for Couture Fashion Week, but not so this season. Designers dabbled in outré looks plopped right in the middle of practical, ready-to-wear pieces, further demonstrating how the line between casual and formal is continuing to be blurred in fashion. Sure, very few people could pull off a dress made entirely of makeup compacts as seen in Sarah Burton’s debut collection for Givenchy, or one weighed down by dozens of gold medals as seen at Marine Serre, but would either of those be the wildest thing you’ve seen being worn on the tube in the last week? I rest my case.
THE TIME TRAVELLER
For the first time in years, Louis Vuitton’s show was not staged at their usual home of the Louvre in Paris, but at a recently refurbished train station. The reason? Creative Director Nicolas Ghesquière was inspired by ‘platforms’ and the way different everyday characters congregate for this pre-travel ritual. Indeed, several other designers have tapped into the traveller’s uniform across the decades, putting a modern spin on glamorous looks once worn by travellers to board trains, planes and cars, which often translated to bohemian layers, armfuls of accessories, a hat and a really great coat to tie it all together.
GLITTER BOMB
Not just for Christmas, sequins are about to come for your everyday wardrobe, at least if these designers have anything to say about it. Giant paillettes adorned headpieces and gowns alike at Roksanda, Etro and Dries van Noten and there’s nothing subtle about it. If a top-to-toe sequinned column might feel a tad too intimidating (and fair enough), Dries van Noten also demonstrated a clever way to add just a touch of sparkle to your look with a string of sequins peeking under a top like a scarf-belt. So fresh, so fashion.