In Paris, once you had to stand in a long line to enter a Christian Louboutin or Chanel boutique. Today, those stores are relatively empty, and the (even longer) lines are now shaping in front of Lemaire and Buly 1803 stores. That’s really telling about the contemporary customers. And honestly – they’ve got taste.
Lemaire, the product of Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran‘s highly-coherent creative dialogue, is a brand that although makes big numbers, still feels like a safe, intimate space for people who feel their best in soft minimalist sensibility. For the autumn-winter 2025 co-ed show, the duo delivered what they do best: chic layering, no-nonsense outerwear, witty accessories, and body-skimming silhouettes inspired by Pina Bausch and Merce Cunningham’s post-rehearsal outfits. Tran said that the clothes sum up “the intensity of living nowadays.” Strokes of Almodovar-esque scarlet red made the offering feel exciting and livid. The Lemaire designers know what they’re doing.
Kim Jones‘ sensational Dior Men collection is exactly what happens when a designer is unburdened from another super-demanding job (meaning Fendi, the Roman brand where the British designer just couldn’t find his rhythm). This autumn-winter 2025 menswear collection was evidently thoroughly considered and planned, like an haute couture outing. The most stunning silhouette was either a trouser nor a skirt. It was a coat, worn backward, with the collar creating a kind of asymmetric cummerbund, the tucked-in sleeves forming “pockets,” and buttons running down the back. The silk-ribbon blindfold some of the models wore gave a pinch of extra-seduction. If only Dior womenswear was this good. Maybe when – as the rumor has it – Jonathan Anderson takes helm?
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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When the news broke that Peter Copping is taking Lanvin under his wings, a collective sigh of relief went through the industry. The absolutely talented designer, known for his deliciously refined stints at Nina Ricci and Oscar De La Renta, is a master of supreme elegance and chic femininity. And Lanvin – the oldest operating French maison – just needed a person like him after all these years of creative confusion that started since Alber Elbaz’s departure back in 2015. Yes, Lanvin was steadily falling into oblivion for a decade.
Peter’s debut collection was a beautiful return to form – his and the brand’s. It felt like a much-needed moment of true savoir-faire – especially after the embarrassingly dishonest, faux-elegant Jacquemus outing (in which the designer knocked off everything from Pieter Mulier’s Alaia to Matthieu Blazy’s Bottega Veneta on the way) that took place just a couple of hours before.
The unquestionable success of Copping’s autumn-winter 2025 collection lies in the effortlessness with which approached Jeanne Lanvin’s legacy. There are no literal references to her 1920s silhouettes or archaic-looking eveningwear (a huge mistake both Bouchra Jarrar and Bruno Sialelli, Copping’s predecessors, did during their blurry tenures). What’s present is a sense of understated modernity shaped by artisan techniques, unpretentious tailoring and richness of materials (these velvets! those crushed-pleats!). The finale dresses – especially the gold number – are just what the red carpet needs today.
This is a great beginning of a Parisian rebirth.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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Introducing Magda Butrym’s pre-fall 2025 collection: a romantic, chic take on grunge.
Captured by Robin Galiegue and styled by Jacob K, the latest lookbook embodies real attitude and powerful sensuality – two elements that deeply inspire the Polish designer. The collection’s gritty, tough-at-heart energy is contrasted with touches of Slavic romanticism, a defining hallmark of the label.
The pre-fall 2025 collection thrives on contrasts, weaving together baby-doll silhouettes and porcelain-inspired florals with utilitarian aged leathers and charismatic, menswear-inspired silhouettes. It’s a dialogue between the refined and the rebellious, proper and raw. This is the spirit of grunge: the courage to clash unexpected style elements and finding utmost pleasure in playing with taste conventions.
The collection’s fearless essence was sparked by the documented style of grunge icons: PJ Harvey’s breezy vintage shifts, Courtney Love’s stage slip-dresses, Juliette Lewis’ broken-glamour and Kora’s unorthodox manner of dressing. Real women inspire Magda Butrym, so it was essential for the designer to convey authentic attitude – not just in the spontaneous layering of a masculine black leather vest over a delicate sage-green floral chiffon dress but also in the models’ dynamic, lively poses choreographed by Pat Boguławski in the lookbook.
Beneath the grunge-inspired layers, however, lies a space for unapologetic elegance – in its own way an act of rebellion in today’s fast-paced world. Statuesque refinement takes shape in a semi-sheer evening gown crafted from wire-structured silk, evoking the soft, sculptural beauty of a blossoming petal – or the calla lilies immortalized by Robert Mapplethorpe, the maverick artist celebrated for his erotically charged and groundbreaking work. Polka-dotted noble silks, ruched dresses, billow-y skirts, and the cascading drapes of earthy, mocha-toned eveningwear embody undone femininity – a grunge perspective compellingly reimagined by the designer.
Magda Butrym’s enduring fascination with Slavic heritage is vividly present in the pre-fall 2025 collection, manifested through unexpected handmade crochet details. A semi-sheer crochet skirt adorned with floral doilies surprises with mini-pannier padding. Lace embellishes the bustier and hemline of a floral slip dress and peeks out from beneath leather shorts, while the grunge-inspired bride-to-be wears a white crochet veil. The collection also revisits the headscarf – a quintessentially Slavic code. Reimagined in butter-soft leather, knitted mélange, or faded floral prints, the updated babushka look exudes sharp, feminine chic.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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The Row‘s autumn-winter 2025 outing feels like Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen‘s comfort zone. There’s evidently less experimentation with form and a radical return to minimalism they have already polished to perfection years ago.
The new season images were photographed by Mark Borthwick, whose artful direction of movement and split-frame compositions lead around the season’s more straightforward silhouettes. Some are deceptively simple; see the rounded sleeves of a blouse that ripple down the arms when worn, or the double-layered coat with an exposed lining. Some are legitimately simple, such as the relaxed cuts of several men’s pieces. Meanwhile, tailoring is treated with a fluid touch.
What worries is the Olsens’ obsession with Martin Margiela’s Hermès: they love this moment in fashion so much that they forget the line between inspiration and imitation. And that’s not a very The Row thing to do.
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