MCQUEEN, CHRISTIAN DIOR, DRIES VAN NOTEN, CHLOE, MIU MIU and GIVENCHY.
It was a Tale of Two Silhouettes: Victorian Vixens in Hourglass Tailoring Flaunted Frills, Ruffles and Pinched Shoulders, while their Counterparts Sported Gigantic Shoulders and Impossibly Miniscule Waists.
At Dries Van Noten
Image Credit Paris Fashion Week, WWD and Chloe Official Website
The cherry on the cake of the bi-annual global fashion week frenzy is always the inimitable Paris Fashion Week – which extended over a full 9 days of blissful fashion.
Paris put on a convincing set of shows with designers turning up in full force and presenting solid collections for Fall despite global doom and gloom.
Perhaps the most noteworthy of all the trends spotted at the shows was the return to femininity (a reaction to global ‘wokeness’ perhaps?). There was little sign of the gender fluid ensembles of recent seasons, instead frilly, flouncy ruffles and hour-glass frocks, coats and jackets were spotted everywhere. McQueen was the the queen of the frill and flounce! Vivienne Westwood also ‘flourished’ in frilliness.
Velvet, satin and brocade were the cloth of choice and one could indeed be forgiven to image you were on the set of a the film adaptation of Gothic novel The Scarlet Petal and the White!
Capes, capelets and coats, often in fur and regal ermine, continued the Gothic Victorian theme, and epic renditions were seen at Miu Miu, Chloe, Rabanne, Balenciaga and Alaia.
Heels became super skinny and tall again this season, and dangerously pointy! Miu Miu and McQueen put on a masterclass celebrating the pointy toe.
‘Inner power dressing’, 80s style almost, also crescendo-ed this season. We’ve been watching shoulders expanding and expanding over the past few seasons, but they’ve reached new ‘widths’ for A/W!
Outrageously large shoulders, nothing short of an engineering feat of ‘concrete’ shoulder pads, were spotted in many shows, most notably at Stella McCartney, Givenchy and Vivienne Westwood (which inevitably made waists seem even tinier).
Leather (particularly black leather) and vegan leather (as seen at Stella McCartney) also featured as a key trend.
Deconstructivism was spotted, as ever, in the offerings of stalwart Japanese designers Comme des Garcon, Junya Watanabe and Yohji Yamamoto.
If one were to single out a key colour trend (apart from the obvious black) it would have to be yellow. Miu Miu, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Givenchy – and many others – celebrated the colour yellow, from flaxen and sunshine to amber and gold.
Well, all that remains to be said is, sit back and spot for yourself these trends in our hand-selected set of designer shows.
MCQUEEN
Watch McQueen’s show here: https://www.fhcm.paris/en/collection/mcqueen-womenswear-fallwinter-2025-2026
You’d be forgiven to think you were on the set of a sweeping Victorian Gothic film, the like of The Crimson Petal and the White, when presented with Dublin-born creative director for McQueen, Seán McGirr’s offering for Autumn/Winter for the house of McQueen.
Charles Dickens’ London sprang to mind as models started appearing on stage dressed in razor sharp black ensembles with pinched waists, (almost) Elizabethan collars and high-cut armholes (and indeed it was Dickens’ very own autobiographical essay in which he described his insomniac wanderings through the streets of London that was the starting point for McGirr’s collection).
Lace ruffs framed faces as models stepped out in corseted waists, razer-sharp pointy toes, their coats sweeping coquettishly behind them. Lace-up, pointy Victorian mid-calf booties accompanied flouncy, ruffled Victorian dresses. Some dresses came in pure crimson red carnation – very striking!
Furry, angel-winged shearling jackets stole the show, as did a very striking ermine coat and many decidedly uncoy Chantilly lace ensembles.
No wonder all of Paris has been covered in McQueen posters – McQueen perfectly captured the zeitgeist in Paris.
Image Credit WWD
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Image Credit WWD
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DRIES VAN NOTEN
Watch Dries Van Noten’s show here: https://www.fhcm.paris/en/collection/dries-van-noten-womenswear-fallwinter-2025-2026
It was pure theatre at Julian Klausner’s first collection as creative director at, arguably, one of the most loved and most recognized of all fashion brands.
Befittingly the shows were held at the very dramatic venue of the Opera Garnier with its mirrored halls. And dramatic it was!
Perhaps the most iconic of all the looks were the pieces constructed from oversized curtain tassels.
Other ensembles had an almost oriental feel about them in their drapery and in the way the sleeveless dresses wrapped around the body.
Dries Van Noten’s signature dyed silk dresses featured in many places, as did his beloved boleros, sequins, rhinestones, embroidery, jacquard and fringe.
Draped dresses looked luxurious and exotic, with the brand’s famous mixes of different textiles in one garment: velvet and chiffon, brocade and jacquard, silk and sequins looking extremely covetable.
The oversized knits looked cosy and sexy, especially the way they were paired with lightweight chiffon and organza.
A delightfully demure palette of bottle green, burnt orange, olive and browns made the exceptional silhouettes stand out even more.
All in all a rich tapestry of influences, shapes and shades that will down very well with lovers of the brand, and will no doubt win Dries Van Noten many new fans.
At Dries Van Noten
At Dries Van Noten
At Dries Van Noten
At Dries Van Noten
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At Dries Van Noten
At Dries Van Noten
At Dries Van Noten
CHRISTIAN DIOR
Watch Christian Dior’s show here: https://www.fhcm.paris/en/collection/christian-dior-womenswear-fallwinter-2025-2026
This season’s neck ruff, neat little jacket, tiered skirts, flounces, frills and general dandy attire were all to be found in this delightful collection by creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for Christian Dior.
Chiuri cites Virginia Woolf’s classic 1928 novel Orlando where a boy turns into a girl as time went on, as inspiration for the collection, inspiration that underscores Chiuri’s passion for costume and how it has changed over the decades and centuries.
Little riding jackets, spats, corsets, knickerbockers, riding boots and frilly white shirts with oversized cuffs shared the runway with ermine coats, tulle skirts, logo-ed t-shirts and the most divine metallic crocheted maxi dresses.
Lacy Victorian touches completed the picture, and were very much in tune with the general zeitgeist of super feminine Gothic Victoriana that we spotted across various brands.
Contemporary black strappy leather jackets looked extraordinary paired with champagne-hued frilly chiffon blouses – pure perfection!
The pièce de résistance, and one that ran right through the collection was the Victorian corset, completing a collection that is so magical and nostalgic, yet so wearable – just add a pair of those flat Christian Dior riding boots and off you go… galloping into a meeting or lunch!
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
Christian Dior
CHLOE
Watch Chloe’s show here: https://www.fhcm.paris/en/collection/chloe-womenswear-fallwinter-2025-2026
Perhaps the most endearing of all the flimsy slips, lacy blouses and flouncy Victorian-inspired ensembles at Paris Fashion Week came from the stables of Chemena Kamali, creative director at Chloe.
Quintessential aristocratic country house living (or castle dwelling) Britishness sprang to mind whilst perusing (and adoring!) all the fur bobbles on the capes and stoles, the threadbare silk slips, the exquisite bits-of-nothing pastel lace dresses…
The signature Chloe girl shines through – a posh and grunge-adoring hippy, all midriff, tiered skirt and plenty attitude. The same girl would nonchalantly be slipping into her silk nightly for a party on the lawns, pairing it with granny’s fur coat – and she’ll look a million dollars.
This collection is indeed like discovering a treasure trove of all your great-granny’s gems stowed away in the attic.
Image Credit Chloe Official Website
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Image Credit Chloe Official Website
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Image Credit Chloe Official Website
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Image Credit Chloe Official Website
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GIVENCHY
Watch Givenchy’s show here: https://www.fhcm.paris/en/collection/givenchy-womenswear-fallwinter-2025-2026
The legend that is Sarah Burton presented her first collection for Givenchy, after a long stint with Alexander McQueen
The logo-ed first looks on the runway suggested a contemporary return to the very beginnings of the brand in 1952, a stretchy lace catsuit with underwear on display.
Silhouettes were strong, and emphasised shoulders (the ultra-padded shoulder look of the moment was evident here too), waistlines and sleeves.
The absence of sleeves was also a feature, with gathers, pleats and asymmetry taking the focus. Oversized bows were bold and striking accessories.
Hourglass silhouettes – most notably the ballet tutu dresses) were interchanged with trapeze shaped dresses, the most striking of these the sunshine yellow sleeveless tulle dress which is a piece of sculpture, really.
Other memorable pieces include the very shapely mid-grey coat with its avant-garde collar and the sexy sleeveless black coat with its strategically shaped lapels.
At Givenchy
At Givenchy
At Givenchy
At Givenchy
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At Givenchy
MIU MIU
Watch Miu Miu’s show here: https://www.fhcm.paris/en/paris-fashion-week
The genius that is Miuccia Prada has got the zeitgeist spot on. She ponders, “The question is what do we retain of femininity? Does it help in this really dangerous moment? In war time?”
Those of us who have been following Miuccia Prada’s fashion thinking over the decades have been fully aware of the fact that she’s deliberately been stripping fashion back to its barest essentials at Miu Miu.
Her press release said, “This season, we really wanted to create an elegance with nothing—through the everyday, through direct manipulations of simple pieces.”
And this season’s offering – perhaps more so than most – was spartan – the basic elements that most folk would have in their wardrobe were indeed the elements of the collection: some vintage-ey fake fur, a few lingerie-esque dresses, a couple of A-line slip skirts, some knee-length socks, a few lurex jumpers… just like in times of war. (Mind you, those delightful sparkly rhinestone socks were unlikely to have been in any old wardrobe in war time…)
But what makes all the difference is the shapewear worn underneath: the iconic 50s bullet bra was the star of the show.
Bits of sparkly gold jewelley brightened up the muted colours, and the homemade hairdo’s were endearing!
To be honest, most women crave simplicity in their day-to-day dressing. Life is complicated enough as it is.
Image Credit WWD
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GOODBYE FROM PARIS FASHION WEEK!
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