SPRING SUMMER 2025
FASHION ANALYSIS
Written by James V. Thomas
This spring-summer season unfolds with a certain inertia, a muted hum rather than a crescendo—a familiar refrain in fashion's cyclical narrative. Perhaps such dormancy is inevitable, given the current oscillations of a fashion industry in flux. Hedi Slimane exits Celine; Haider Ackermann steps into Tom Ford; Matthieu Blazy ascends to Chanel; Galliano departs Margiela; and drones buzz over New Jersey. The drama, endless as it is, seems peripheral to the machine's central task: the steady production of garments and accessories. And so, here we are—poised to examine and interrogate the season's offerings.
The year's dominant aesthetic, so far, is encapsulated by the term "quiet luxury," particularly in womenswear. This is the paradox of the season: ostentation by subtraction. Brands like Bottega Veneta, Alaïa, Loro Piana, Loewe, and The Row have flourished in this ethos of cultivated restraint. But what does this really signify?
"Quiet luxury"—a phrase invoked with reverence, as if it were a talisman—is less about genuine refinement than it is about the performance of it. Buyers, in their pursuit of an "old money aesthetic", seem more infatuated with the idea of Gwyneth Paltrow's simplicity than with its actual demands. Were they truly invested in the ethos of quiet luxury, they might embrace the rigor of bespoke tailoring: garments shaped to their bodies, their lives, their movements, & carefully crafted fabrics. Yet such precision remains conspicuously absent from both the fashion marketplace and their closets.
Instead, we find ourselves in a strange tension: fashion that mimics the bespoke without embodying it. The result is a pretense of custom, a simulacrum of intimacy. And so, as this season veers away from the truly bespoke, we turn instead to the collections presented—to consider how certain brands steer the ship of style, crafting the desire for what comes next.
Left to right : Hermès, Loewe, Gucci, & Loro Piana.
Ebony & Ivory
In the evolving pursuit of chic—a journey undertaken as men extricate themselves from the now passé aesthetics of normcore—the enduring theme of black and white persists. Its resonance, rooted in the 1930s, is both historical and practical: a cipher for timelessness and a gesture toward ease. The appeal lies in its deceptive simplicity; it flatters not only the eye but the effort. Yet the secret, as always, resides in the material—the textures and weaves, the fabrics that distinguish the banal from the sublime, and the subtle from the tape-à-l'oeil.
This season, black and white, whether in stark juxtaposition or as monochromatic statements, wove its way through nearly every collection. The motif recurs not simply as a nod to history but as a strategy: a canvas for designers and wearers alike to project authority, elegance, and, paradoxically, individuality.
Left to right : Auralee, Bottega Veneta, Loewe
Layered Oversizing with Contrasting Textures
A tweed coat layered over a leather jacket, draped over a cashmere cardigan, which in turn rests upon a silk shirt—this is fabric as spectacle, a tactile inventory presented for the buyer to merely select. The contrast of materials demands an accommodating silhouette; oversized proportions become essential, a strategy for layering without restriction. Among these, the return of ostrich skin at Loewe, reimagined as a monumental coat, stands out—a textural gesture of opulence and provocation.
Left to right : Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta
Dreams of the 1980s
Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent has emerged as a defining force in men’s—and women’s—fashion over the past three years. This ascendancy feels inevitable, a natural reaction for those attuned to style who are seeking refuge from the ubiquity of normcore and the relentless dominance of sportswear. Vaccarello’s vision is unapologetically precise: painfully slender silhouettes, opulent fabrics, and a distinctly bourgeois "born-better-than-you" sensibility.
This aesthetic, steeped in nostalgia, conjures a world situated somewhere in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, circa the late 1980s—a milieu of muted tones, high-waisted trousers, oversized suiting, and printed silks. It is fashion as an act of remembrance, a restoration of elegance as both armor and aspiration.
Left to right : Fendi, Loewe
Caddyshack
Plaid resurged this season with striking force, evoking the peculiar charm of a Long Island golf course circa 1975 (or the idea of the country club, cue the quiet luxury)—a motif both playful and self-aware. Though inherently lighthearted, this trend offers subtle details worth extracting and reinterpreting for a more casually sophisticated wardrobe.
Consider, for instance, a pair of plaid trousers paired with a silk short-sleeve polo knit and mint green Venetian slippers—an ensemble that balances whimsy with refinement. Alternatively, a plaid blazer styled with ivory trousers and an ivory shirt transforms the pattern into an elegant statement for evening wear. Plaid, in this reimagining, becomes less about nostalgia and more about the artful juxtaposition of tradition and modernity.
Note : Muted Madras can also be used in the same style.
Sky Blue
Est. 2019