A recent fashion week has been marked by new creative directors trying to leave their footprint on the most followed fashion show, Paris Fashion Week. I already wrote about Dior’s show (see here), and I am personally becoming a fan of Jonathan Anderson, particularly his haute couture collection presented at the Haute Couture Week (see here).
Saint Laurent, on the other hand, leaned into authority and power, something the house is known for, ever since the famous Beatnik collection that Laurent designed for the House of Dior, and then an iconic tuxedo. Chanel, however, remained loyal to tweeds; however, they were reworked with slight looseness in structure, signaling a return to wearability and comfort, but also suggesting that heritage is being softened and renegotiated.
Major Trends
Black dominated in collections, signaling a reset, along with sculptural tailoring mixed with femininity. Paris has again returned to femininity and structure, and what the city has always been known for: with the exception of Chanel and her masculine muse, it has always been femininity. Office designs, however, were also present, so silhouettes went professional (e.g., blazers and trenches), signaling also a dual focus: extravagance and femininity, but also wearability, something that was almost fully celebrated at a New York Fashion Week. However, office wear was not traditional and fully practical, as is often the case with American designs. In the case of Paris, office wear was not just about practicality but also about performing competence and making office wear Parisian, and thus some suits were exaggerated, and proportions were unrealistic. Balenciaga exaggerated suits and shoulders, while Saint Laurent performed sharp but controlled tailoring, suggesting discipline, not distortion. Work can, thus, be read as not just work, but also performance.
Silhouettes: Between Control and Distortion
This season, silhouettes were telling, revealing the underlying tension between control and disruption, more clearly than color or fabric alone. On one side, there was a return to structured, elongated silhouettes (tailored coats, sharp blazers, narrow lines), which reinforced authority and discipline. Saint Laurent framed, not exposed, the body, which suggested control and restraint. On the other side, silhouettes were also frequently distorted and exaggerated with oversized shoulders, elongated sleeves, and disproportionate tailoring, which was visible at Balenciaga’s show that pushed the body beyond realism. These silhouettes were about presence and power, rather than function.
However, there was a third focus: soft layering and fluidity, particularly at Dior, where sheer fabrics and looser constructions softened the body without abandoning structure. This resulted in a hybrid silhouette, which was controlled but not rigid.
Silhouettes suggested that the fashion body is no longer stable because structure signals authority, distortion questions authority, and softness renegotiates authority. Silhouette, therefore, becomes not just a design choice but also a site of power, identity, and control, which are all actively constructed and contested.
What does this season mean?
Fashion, according to Paris, seems to be in the repositioning phase with new creative directors and identity resets, along with an aesthetic mood focused on controlled uncertainty with black and restraint in tailoring. There was a simultaneous push towards wearability, such as office clothes and spectacles with celebratory designs and femininity. This season reflected a field in transition, where symbolic capital got renegotiated between heritage, authority, and new cultural relevance. This is relevant because main houses are in creative transition with new creative directors; thus, authority is no longer stable, but performed and renegotiated. At recent Fashion Week, fashion became less about expression, but more about containment.
Thank you for reading!