PARIS — On an common Parisian market street on an regular rainy fall day, Stella McCartney’s high-octane program on Monday was anything .
Guests gasped as the drizzle stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun emerged minutes before the program — a divine metaphor, possibly, for McCartney’s positive and nature-inspired screen.
Meanwhile, inside the storied premises of Les Invalides with its golden dome, Balenciaga’s visitors had to present a golden ring—instead of an invite—to getin the program. Snaking passages led to a dark atrium with a extravagant 100-meter refined, inlayed wood billiard table. The front row, consistingof U.S. Vogue Editor Anna Wintour, sat on elaborate chairs around that table, producing an intimate and up-close experience.
Here are some highlights of spring-summer 2025 ready-to-wear reveals in Paris, consistingof Balenciaga:
The program opened with underwear, accented with surreally pointed shoes and tones, setting an intimate tone versus a background of blues music. Interestingly, rather of undressing, the collection slowly included layers. A loose, ruched 70s gown at the front included kinky strapping at the back, highlighting a secret style of the collection — dualities. This subtle play on contrasts, something Demna often toys with, highlighted the stress inbetween the polished and the raw.
As the program advanced, denims with restricting webbing nearly held the legs together, including a sense of restraint that played with concepts of liberty and constraint. Truncated puffer coats offered the looks an edgy, fashion-forward ambiance, while minutes of irreverence emerged through giant gold and metal tennisshoes that looked nearly clown-like, springing as the designs strolled. A cap, used low and embellished with spikes lookinglike a wolf’s teeth, additional enhanced Balenciaga’s punk undercurrent.
Torn chap denims that looked like they might haveactually been personalized from a thrift shop made their look on the high-end runway — a striking commentary on Demna’s unwavering belief that real high-end isn’t about luxury or exclusivity, however about reimagining the normal. The contrast was clear: Mundane products, such as a males’s removed T-shirt, were juxtaposed with amazing diamond earrings. It was Demna’s anti-luxury, bottom-up technique in complete force, takingapart the standard top-down view of high style and asserting that credibility, resourcefulness, and subversion are the brand-new signs of high-end.
There were likewise minutes of unforeseen poetry — a black leather coat, loosely connected around the waist, exposing the design’s naked shoulders. These pieces went beyond garments; they were declarations on vulnerability and flaw, 2 of Balenciaga’s core styles. The imperfect charm, the spontaneous and apparently haphazard productions, spoke to Demna’s love of the coexistence of excellence and flaw.
The uber-cool, diverse collection was cohesive just in its insanity, unpredictability, and humor. It was an unabashed event of imagination as the supreme high-end — a vibrant suggestion that, in a world overwhelmed by material, real creativity is the rarest and most important co