By Standing Room Writers
Loewe
“Playfulness is back,” read a recent Instagram caption from Pacome following the latest showing from Loewe. Brief as it was, the sentiment neatly captured the spirit of the collection presented by the house’s creative duo, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.Surrounding the sixty-five looks was an installation by Cosima von Bonin, whose oversized sculptural animals—a floppy-eared dog, a buoyant dolphin and a languid octopus to name a few—introduced a sense of surreal humour to the runway. The playful staging mirrored the designers’ evolving language for the brand. If their debut hinted at an athletic sensibility, this season pushed that idea further, with watersports emerging as a loose starting point. Three-dimensional printed dresses slicked in latex gave the impression of garments freshly soaked, while latex puffer jackets, asymmetrical fur-lined dresses and brightly coloured jerseys reinforced the duo’s interest in movement, texture and playful exaggeration.
By Seth Khouri
Louis Vuitton
Nature versus nurture has long formed an eternal pendulum in fashion, yet for this AW collection, Nicolas Ghesquière chose to acknowledge both in equal measure. At the foot of pixelated moss hills, Louis Vuitton celebrated 130 years of the monogram within a neo-scape of imaginative armour—an emblem of resilience and the enduring longevity of the Maison. Inside the Cour Carrée du Louvre, Ghesquière turned toward the elements, presenting garments built for endurance against a pastoral dreamscape. Through accentuated silhouettes, the designer, as expected, once again rubbed shoulders with the bold. His unmistakable audacity manifested in exaggerated shapes and daring headwear that resisted restraint. Leather-sculpted florals bloomed as embellishments, while textured textiles echoed surfaces adjacent to rugged terrain. With a collection so clearly imbued with geographical influence, it is no longer speculation but fact that wildness remains a fertile gateway for sartorial play.
By Jorgia Burke
Abra
This season, Abraham Ortuño Perez (the designer behind Abra) reminded his audience of the simple joy in finding beauty within the mess. For the starting point of his latest collection, Ortuño Perez looked close to home, drawing inspiration from the playful chaos created by his young niece and nephew, their mess becoming an unlikely mood board. That spirit of joyful disruption materialised across the collection’s silhouettes. Voluminous ruffles erupted from the seams of tailored blazers and spilled from oversized cuffs, while knee-high boots were adorned with cascading waterfalls of fringe. Elsewhere, a lime-green skirt bounced with oversized leather discs and a gold tinsel-fringed dress shimmered with every movement down the runway. Outerwear proved particularly striking: cropped and mid-length coats appeared in shearling, faux fur, leather and wool, many finished with deliberately shortened sleeves—a playful twist that preserved the house’s distinctive codes. As Perez embarks on his new role as Creative Director of Camperlab, it’s clear that he has no interest in slowing down at Abra.
By Seth Khouri
Saint Laurent
Marking the 60th anniversary of Le Smoking, one of Saint Laurent’s most iconic codes, Anthony Vaccarello revisits a pivotal moment in the maison’s history. While acknowledging the responsibility to remain connected to the house’s past, he continually moves beyond nostalgia, reimagining the legacy for a contemporary moment. He opened the fall show with eight strong-shouldered, all-black suits—a confident affirmation of what Saint Laurent stands for today. Tailoring has long instilled a sense of power within women, now flowing with a more modern fluidity. A tonal palette of caramels, rose, sienna and rich reddish browns built toward the collection’s central moment: lace. Contrasting skirt sets, bodysuits and silk slip dresses offered a sensual, provocative approach to the house’s homage. The mood sharpened with every silhouette, underscoring the show’s confident allure. Accessories—sheer black stockings, wire-framed sunglasses, embellished brooches, pointed pumps and exaggerated necklaces—completed the looks with polished, elegant precision. Vaccarello imbued an unmistakable nocturnal poise, reaffirming Saint Laurent’s codes of empowered, confident femininity.
By Tallulah Simone
Dior
At Dior, Jonathan Anderson’s collection appeared to hover above the Jardin des Tuileries as models stepped across and among artificial lily pads scattered across the set. In this fantastical landscape, the garments moved like figures within an impressionist painting, aided by the fluid, textured rows of ruffles that rippled through the collection. The effect was romantic yet slightly surreal, a dreamlike reimagining of traditional eveningwear codes. Anderson infused imagination into this reinterpretation of formalwear, pairing fitted V-neck jackets with oversized floral embellishments and leaf-like ruffled edges that framed the body in soft movement. Volume and delicacy worked in tandem, with cascading textures creating silhouettes that felt both sculptural and weightless. The influence of the Junon Dress (designed by Christian Dior) appeared throughout the collection, its signature embroidered scalloped edges resurfacing across skirts, jackets and even denim. Through this archival reference, Anderson transformed couture history into something newly whimsical and alive.
By Allanah Davies
Ganni
This season, Ganni Creative Director Ditte Reffstrup found her starting point in the short but evocative poem The Water Tree by Danish writer Inger Christensen. The poem, which reflects on memory, landscape and quiet moments of reflection, reminded Reffstrup of her own water tree–a nostalgic reference to the small Danish town where she grew up. From this personal starting point, the collection unfolded through a wardrobe designed for shifting seasons and everyday resilience. Tiered ruffled dresses appeared alongside thick, heavy overcoats, chunky knits and fur-lined jackets, while voluminous skirts and balloon-leg trousers introduced a sense of playful proportion. Practicality remained central, yet the silhouettes carried a romantic softness that echoed the poetic inspiration behind them. In true Ganni sensibility, accessories and footwear played a prominent role: knee-high leather boots built to brace unforgiving weather, fur-lined bucket bags and oversized scarves completing a collection grounded equally in practicality, nostalgia and contemporary Scandinavian ease.
By Seth Khouri
