The Most Notable Collections from Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2025

Dig­i­tal Fash­ion and Beau­ty Edi­tor Eve Fitz­patrick

Haute Cou­ture unfold­ed in Paris as a sea­son of tran­si­tions, of end­ings, arrivals, and emo­tion­al res­o­nance. As the indus­try stood on the edge of change, design­ers looked inward, draw­ing from per­son­al his­to­ries, ances­tral homages, and frag­ile ecosystems.

A cou­ture sea­son where dra­ma found ele­gance, restraint held weight, and beau­ty didn’t just dec­o­rate the body, it told a sto­ry. Here’s a clos­er look at the col­lec­tions that defined the week.

Maison Margeila

Glen Martens’ long-await­ed debut for Mai­son Margiela was shroud­ed in mys­tery. Elab­o­rate masks obscured the mod­els’ faces, echo­ing the house’s past while craft­ing some­thing entire­ly new. Inspired by the fog-laced gloom of Martens’ home­town, Bruges, the col­lec­tion pulsed with dark romance and sculp­tur­al intrigue. It was eerie, enig­mat­ic, and utter­ly Margiela.

Balenciaga

Dem­na took his final bow at Balen­ci­a­ga with a col­lec­tion that served as a haunt­ing self-por­trait. Mod­els walked to a sound­track of their names being spo­ken aloud, a qui­et acknowl­edg­ment of indi­vid­u­al­i­ty amidst the spec­ta­cle. From sharply tai­lored skirt-suits to sweep­ing sil­hou­ettes rem­i­nis­cent of Cristóbal him­self, it was a love let­ter to a decade of dis­rup­tion, with each piece being a nod to a pre­vi­ous cre­ation by Dem­na. Equal parts sever­i­ty and chic.

Chanel

The in-house design team pre­sent­ed Chanel’s last pre-Blazy col­lec­tion with qui­et con­fi­dence, invok­ing Coco Chanel’s roman­tic obses­sion with the Scot­tish High­lands. Tweeds and silks danced togeth­er in a neu­tral palette, where floaty organ­za soft­ened the struc­tured clas­si­cism. It was a wist­ful, wind-swept good­bye before the voice of change arrives in October.

Christian Dior

Maria Grazia Chi­uri turned her gaze home­ward for Dior, offer­ing a serene ode to Rome. Almost entire­ly in white, the col­lec­tion exud­ed sacred soft­ness. Lace-skim­ming sil­hou­ettes, feath­ered crowns, and bare­ly-there gowns that moved like poet­ry. In a world of noise, Dior whis­pered ele­gant­ly and with conviction.

Schiaparelli

Daniel Rose­ber­ry chan­neled the elec­tric uncer­tain­ty of pre-WWII Paris, a time when, as he put it, “life and art were on the precipice.” Ref­er­enc­ing Elsa’s own codes, he deliv­ered strong-shoul­dered tai­lor­ing, cinched waists, and razor-sharp pen­cil skirts, all sculpt­ed into sur­re­al­ist grandeur. Cou­ture here was armor, per­for­mance, and provocation.

Iris Van Herpen

Iris Van Herpen’s ode to ocean­ic preser­va­tion shim­mered with oth­er­world­ly grace. Ethe­re­al sil­hou­ettes seemed to lev­i­tate, craft­ed from futur­is­tic fab­rics that mim­ic­ked water’s move­ment. A reminder that cou­ture can tran­scend cloth­ing, it can become a liv­ing, breath­ing art form.

Ashi Studio

In a mas­ter­class of form and con­cept, Ashi Stu­dio lay­ered ideas like fab­ric itself. Hour­glass sil­hou­ettes, corsets of carved wood, and a gown made from horse­hair spoke to the extremes of couture’s imag­i­na­tion. Each piece felt like a sculp­tur­al the­sis root­ed in tech­nique, reach­ing for the intangible.

Zuhair Murad

Glam­our returned in full force at Zuhair Murad, with a col­lec­tion steeped in the gold­en age of Hol­ly­wood. Gold and sil­ver shim­mered across dra­mat­ic gowns, their bead­ing catch­ing every ounce of light. Draped sen­su­al­i­ty met struc­tured shoul­ders in a bold cel­e­bra­tion of cinema’s most deca­dent era.

Tamara Ralph

Art Deco ele­gance ruled the run­way as Tama­ra Ralph unveiled a col­lec­tion of geo­met­ric grace. Struc­tured bodices and strong lines pro­vid­ed the archi­tec­tur­al bones, soft­ened by pearl embell­ish­ments, blush tones, and flow­ing satin. It was a study in dual­i­ty, hard edges and soft beau­ty bal­anced in harmony.

ArdAzAei

With The Fold­ed Sea, ArdAzA­ei explored the poet­ry of the ocean floor. Inspired by sea urchins and coral reefs, the col­lec­tion fea­tured pleat­ed pas­tels, flu­id forms, and a palette kissed by soft pinks and sea-glass blues. A gen­tle call to pro­tect what is frag­ile, told through couture’s most del­i­cate language.