Casual, cool, chic or avant-garde? The new fashion season checks all the boxes

Designs for the season generally appear as more casual and carefree. Photo: Fendi

The fashion world has reached a crossroad. There is currently a big appetite for comfortable and practical clothes, yet designers are also being called out for playing it too safe.

Spring/Summer 2025 trends mirror this duality of contrasting needs. From casual chic designs to bold avant-garde looks, the aesthetic swings from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Big fashion houses are seen keeping it subtle. This is in line with the “stealth wealth” hype that is not going anywhere soon.

Versace, for example, reimagined a wardrobe lighter, fresher and more free in spirit. The collection’s aim is to offer an exuberant approach to dressing.

There are also Gucci’s quietly elegant creations, which are inspired by “the moment the sun dives into the sea at the end of an August day”.

As seen on the runway, trousers are wide and low strung, while jackets hang loosely over shoulders. Party looks – bedazzled and embellished to a certain degree – remain as nonchalant, relaxed pieces.

Functional and everyday seems to be the aesthetics that brands are going for. Photo: Gucci

Fendi drew from the Roaring Twenties for this season. Everything was easy breezy: dropped-waist dresses, informal shirtdresses, handkerchief frocks, and even a bathrobe.

The collection’s inspiration does not mean that it is old-fashioned – according to the label, it is still anchored in the “now”.

Read more: In fashion, there is an appetite for utilitarian, basic and humble clothes

“It’s about modernity in style and attitude. There’s modernism in dress, design, decoration and thought,” read the show notes.

At Burberry, it was the great outdoors that shaped the Spring/Summer 2025 attitude.

Each garment presented on the runway had a functional aspect to it. Cargo pants seemed to be a staple, as were technical wear essentials like ponchos and trench coats.

Even Rabanne, the late founder who was known for unconventional designs, went down the wearable fashion route – although there were still hints of avant-gardism in detailing.

The collection’s description simply stated that “radicality is not always revolutionary, and it is not always instantly obvious”.

Daring to be different

Less mainstream labels like Comme Des Garcons, Issey Miyake, Loewe and more, were the ones that presented boundary-pushing designs.

In the Loewe show, models walked the runway wearing upside-down aviators. Dresses incorporated hoop skirts comically flared at the bottom, and paired with chunky sports shoes.

The Issey Miyake collection made use of washi paper (fine strips were woven with other fibres like hemp, rayon, mohair and wool to make fabrics). Alluding to the Japanese art of origami, silhouettes appeared as sculptural.

Comme Des Garcons’ ready-to-wear designs – stiff, rigid and alien-esque – were anything but wearable.

“What I create is nothing but an expression of my own issues, of what’s inside my head. It’s all about my own values. Of course, I understand those who don’t agree. I accept them. That is freedom.” Comme des Garcons founder, Rei Kawakubo, told Vogue Japan.

Moschino (known for its maximalist offerings under former creative director Jeremy Scott) presented ironic looks that play on the mundane.

Models were seen carrying bags shaped to look like banal items like kettles and laundry detergent bottles, as well as a headpiece made out of scraps of buttons and rocks

The clothes themselves were not your everyday garments. For instance, there was a suit deconstructed into a skirt.

Outdoor jackets like poncho were included into the season's collections. Photo: Burberry

Brighter colours and loose cuts are defining the menswear look of today. Photo: Neil Barrett

Read more: Escapism and surrealist fashion the focus at recent Paris Couture Week

Hard and soft

As for menswear, runway trends veer towards celebrating whimsy designs.

Sheer tops were a favourite: Dsquared2 paired them with leather pants, while Louis Vuitton fashioned sheer turtleneck sweaters.

Pastels featured prominently too. Ami, Dior, Dries Van Noten, Hermes, JW Anderson, Kenzo, Lemaire, Neil Barrett, Prada, Ralph Lauren and lots more all dressed up their male models in lighter colours.

That said, there is now also a fascination with the blokecore aesthetic. Football jersey-inspired looks were rampant during the Spring/Summer 2025 menswear presentations last year (which took place just before the Paris Olympics).

Workwear – garments that make up the uniforms of blue-collar workers – are a big focus for this season.

This is in trend with how formal suiting is becoming relaxed. The boardroom look of stiff tailored looks have been replaced with seersuckers that billow and sway with each step.

Even for brands known for having a tailoring heritage, such as Ermenegildo Zegna, the attitude is a lot more carefree.

“In the gentry world, the shapes suggest and the insouciant manner they are worn by men who play buoyantly with their own appearance,” said artistic director, Alessandro Sartori.

True enough, Ermenegildo Zegna’s go-to silhouette for Spring/Summer 2025 is one that is soft and easy – and some looks even showcased short shorts. A far cry away from being stuffy and staid.