“I won’t comment on current affairs. I was told not to. But I can quote the famous American philosopher Lady Gaga: fashion is the thing that saved me from being sad,” said Mytheresa CEO Michael Kliger at a dinner hosted by the German luxury multi-brand retailer for Australian designer Christopher Esber on Saturday.
Lady Gaga’s line reflected the mood: Paris Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2025 offered a solid season amid a geopolitical crisis, luxury slump, looming trade war and the woes of wholesale. Grounded collections, strong debuts and sunny weather — at least until Monday — put attendees in good spirits, even though many hadn’t packed accordingly. “I brought shearling!” exclaimed Tiffany Hsu, Mytheresa’s chief buying officer. The main complaint was about the geographically dispersed shows, like the day PFW attendees crossed the city from north to south and north again for the Stella McCartney, Acne and Balmain shows.
With luxury showing signs of stabilisation after a sharp fall in 2024, there’s a desire for authenticity and brands in Paris reflected that by staging more intimate shows. (Except for Coperni — the brand held a LAN party in the Adidas arena, where some 1,000 guests sat between the 200 gamers who were focused on playing Fortnite.) Meanwhile, the industry rallied to support emerging designers, some of which found clever ways to present on a budget, like this shoe brand which took editors for a carpool ride between shows. “After a period of prosperity, we have to reinvent ourselves and fashion is looking to find solutions,” explained PR guru Lucien Pagès.
Here are some of those solutions and key takeaways from the last week in Paris.
The verdict on the three debuts
A lot was at stake with the debut of Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford and of Sarah Burton at Givenchy, but in the end, both collections received standing ovations and rave reviews. Tom Ford himself hugged Ackermann at the close of the show, which Vogue Runway and Vogue Business global director Nicole Phelps called “sensational”. At Givenchy, Sarah Burton immersed herself in the archives and the work of house founder Hubert de Givenchy and succeeded in the exercise. “It feels like Sarah Burton and Haider Ackermann have both found a perfect home,” says fashion consultant Julie Gilhart.
Julian Klausner’s debut show at Dries Van Noten also had a positive reception: “Van Noten turned up today to demonstrate his support. Klausner clearly understands this brand and there was nothing tentative about this beginning. That in and of itself is promising,” Phelps wrote in her review.
