Paris Fashion Week: Highlights from the Spring-Summer 2025 shows. CNN NEWS
What role fashion can play in bleak times? As France — and much of Europe — grapple with the seemingly inexorable rise of far-right parties, headline-grabbing lawsuits tied to the #MeToo movement, alongside the global downturn of the luxury sector, designers at Paris Fashion Week, which culminated on Tuesday, felt it time to ask.
The notion of heritage provided comfort for some, while others embraced surrealism and more high octane designs in collections which reflected a desire to escape.
Reinvented retro”
At Chloé, Chemena Kamali continued building her boho chic fantasy, reinterpreting the ethos of the founder. Drawing on the “the essence of Chloé’s roots as a starting point,” the collection included floral prints, plays on ‘flou’ (ruffled shirts), pleated sleeves, billowy blouses and laced ballerina pumps for an airy allure the house has long been known for.
Paris Fashion Week: Highlights from the Spring-Summer 2025 shows. CNN NEWS
Valentino held its hotly anticipated show on Sunday, the first designed by the label’s new creative director Alessandro Michele who has come to the house from Gucci. Michele delved into Valentino’s archives, most notably its ‘70s heyday, and emerged with a vintage-inspired collection that was rich in details: from lashings of bows, polka dots and lace gloves to sequins — flourishes that might only be visible off camera.
Brand history was similarly front and center at Alexander McQueen, where Seán McGirr showed his second collection for the label. The show included the mythical figure of “the banshee,” who the founder had himself quoted in the 1990s, and delved into gothic, tailored lines with heavy platform heels — a nod to the maison’s DNA.
A different kind of retro appeared in the form of an indie sleaze revival — the pop culture period dominated by indie or alternative bands from 2006 to 2012 — at Ann Demeulemeester. Designed by Stefano Gallici, there were New Romantic touches in the form of ruffled collars, sheer lace fabrics and dishevelled tailoring. It was “a deep dive into my teenage years…living with my band,” Gallici said backstage.
Surrealism today
This year, as the city’s famed Centre Pompidou celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Surrealism — a movement which coincided with the rise of fascism in Europe, and an overall feeling of loss of meaning — it appears the artistic period inspires not just curators but fashion designers too.
It was the theme of Alphonse Maitrepierre’s collection, which integrated USB sticks, game console controllers and computer screens as jewellery and tops.
“I asked what the (surrealist) movement would look like today,” he said backstage before the show. “It would certainly be a movement that would be much more nerdy or geeky, with new technologies that are easily accessible.”
