Paris Fashion Week A/W 2025 marks the season’s closing event, once again taking over the French capital with showcases from brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, Chanel, and Givenchy. The latter was particularly anticipated this year with the debut of former Alexander McQueen designer Sarah Burton at the helm.
Sarah Burton’s opening show took place on March 7, drawing inspiration from long-hidden patterns of the house’s founder, Hubert de Givenchy, and reimagining the house’s signatures for the modern woman. “I want to speak to everything that relates to contemporary women,” she said. “Strength, vulnerability, emotional intelligence, a sense of power, or something very sexy. Everything.” But she was not the only one commanding significant attention! Just two days earlier, another major debut took place: Haider Ackermann presented his first collection for Tom Ford on March 5, following his appointment as Peter Hawkings’ successor earlier this year. Meanwhile, Julian Klausner held his first show as creative director of Dries Van Noten at the Opéra Garnier, and Alessandro Michele presented his second ready-to-wear collection for Valentino in a surreal, red-themed “public bathroom.”
Several intriguing younger names also appeared on the schedule, such as LVMH Prize winner Duran Lantink designing for Hodakova, Rei Kawakubo’s latest Comme des Garçons collection, and Junya Watanabe’s thought-provoking designs for Noir Kei Ninomiya.
Nicolas Ghesquière presented Louis Vuitton’s A/W 2025 collection to an exclusive audience of 400 guests at L’Étoile du Nord, the headquarters of France’s national railway company. The collection was inspired by the cover of Kraftwerk’s 1977 album Trans-Europe Express. It featured a series of characters one might encounter at a train station—but naturally, all filtered through Ghesquière’s signature eclectic, postmodern glamour. There were brightly colored raincoats and anoraks, some featuring sporty Louis Vuitton logos; futuristic “uniforms” that evoked conductors and attendants; and nods to old-world glamour with twisted turbans, shimmering fur coats, and ruffled dresses.
Alessandro Michele paid tribute to the recently deceased David Lynch and the theatrical world in his second ready-to-wear showcase for Valentino, held in the uniquely designed exhibition space of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. The entirely red setting evoked a massive public bathroom, with cubicles, sinks, and mirrors lining the perimeter, creating a surreal yet cinematic backdrop for a show exploring themes of “privacy and publicity, surfaces and depths.” The collection featured 1970s-style garments in shades of red and pink, while plush “fur” coats radiated a hedonistic glamour. Michele brought a newfound purity to this collection, which unfolded like a scene in a nightclub restroom—models wandered the space, checking their outfits in mirrors before disappearing from view.
Rick Owens unveiled his latest women’s collection, titled Concordians, in a vast wing of the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. The name echoed his menswear presentation from earlier this year and referenced the industrial town of Concordia near Venice, where Owens produces much of his seasonal collections. The collection was both subversive and opulent, featuring laser-cut leather garments linked by chains, appearing like scales or feathers on the body. There were oversized wool or leather coats with exaggerated shoulders, as well as a continuation of his menswear show’s “megacrust” denim, where the fabric was infused with bronze foil and wax for a striking effect.
Rei Kawakubo’s latest show was a declaration of independence. “Lately, we feel that big business, big culture, global systems, and world structures may not be as great as they seem,” she stated in a brief press release for Comme des Garçons’ A/W 2025 collection, which premiered in Paris on a Saturday afternoon. “There is great value in small things. Small can be powerful.” More than fifty years after founding her boldly unconventional label in Tokyo in 1973, Comme des Garçons continues to stand as an alternative to luxury fashion conglomerates, nurturing numerous emerging designers along the way. The collection largely celebrated femininity, featuring ruffles, pleats, floral motifs, and classic materials such as velvet and satin. Even at 82, Kawakubo remains one of fashion’s most liberating voices.