2025 was the year for fashion talks, a nonstop parade of moments too good to scroll past. Some we screenshot, some we moodboard, and some even made it into therapy convo, don’t judge, I was overwhelmed. So let’s break down everything Mrs. Smith now learned and appreciated.
Best Designer Musical Chairs Performance
Demna Gvasalia dumping Balenciaga for Gucci
What a breakup. Luxury couples called it quits all year, but this one had us slack-jawed, half the industry swore on Balenciaga being Demna’s forever home, yet here he goes. His Gucci SS26 debut was “a study of the Gucciness of Gucci”. Legacy was respected and expertly broken, don’t worry though, no heritage was harmed in the making. “The collection named La Famiglia marks Gucci’s return to storytelling, going back to the future by way of the past” the press release went on to say.
Sure, the archives led the way, but that only proved Demna’s flexibility. Prints and silhouettes were clearly pointing to the Tom Ford and Alessandro Michele eras but the Gen Z-ification and storytelling had Gvasalia written all over it. La Famiglia lives in archetypes, La Bomba, Narcisista, Introverso, L’Influencer, Miss Aperitivo, Nerd… should I continue or have you already found your spirit character? For the record, La Contessa’s granny floral dress is framed in my office, highly recommended. Legendary, heavyweight designers who honored tradition had spare keys to the house of Gucci for so long, maybe all we needed was a designer who is fluent in the present, ready to break in. If you catch me holding a window open, mind your business, I’m curious to see where all of this takes us.
Most Unexpected Suit-and-Tie Shockwave
Anna Wintour stepping down as American Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief
The woman behind Vogue’s past 37 years and the blackest of black sunglasses in history still serves as Vogue’s global editorial director and Condé Nast’s global chief content officer, but indeed scaled back her duties from the US edition. “Anybody in a creative field knows how essential it is never to stop growing in one’s work. Now, I find that my greatest pleasure is helping the next generation of impassioned editors storm the field with their own ideas.” Wintour told Vogue.
Love her or loathe her, she rewired fashion, September Issue, Met Gala, editorial vision, power-move publishing, spotlighting new talent, okay I think I’m going to pause here because my fingers are kind of cramping, but the woman basically made the industry appreciate the art stitched into seams. So yes, the throne was empty for a moment there, until Chloe Malle found the seat comfortable enough. A woman that openly admitted that fashion isn’t one of her main interests, oh boy.
Show That Cleared My Skin
Maison Margiela Couture 25 by Glenn Martens
The house of Margiela really went from Martin to Martens, Belgium’s keeping it within borders apparently. Stepping into the legacy of Martin Margiela and John Galliano, arguably the most theatrical couturier alive, is not for the faint of heart. But Glenn Martens found his footing, all by respecting and pulling inspiration from the scary question of “could anyone really follow this tradition?”.
The show was a fever dream in the best way, peeling walls, Flemish leather wallpaper, antique drapes, paper experiments, photocopies, hand-painting, junk jewelry, tulle feathers, wings, flowers, honestly, if it existed, it walked, but one thing it refused to have was faces, ring any bells? “Anonymity is very important to me, it balances me” said once Martin Margiela, Martens took that memo home and framed it. References to the past kept popping up throughout the line-up like little Margiela jump-scares, triggering collective nostalgia in the room. But Martens’ vision stood so firmly on its feet it could’ve walked the runway without a rehearsal, basically shoving us into the future whether we were ready to let go of such a past or not. And look… fashion hasn’t made me feel anything genuine in a long time (I thought my emotional range was archival coat prices vs. showroom small-talk survival). But Martens actually brought tears to my eyes. Real ones, not the “someone just raised the price of a Chloé Paddington” kind.
Runway Moment Still Sitting In My Camera Roll
Anok Yai returning to Vetements as a mourning bride
Anok Yai, Model of the Year, did the full Vetements cinematic universe, SS25 runaway bride, SS26 mourning bride, consistency is a talent. For SS25, Guram Gvasalia’s plan was an elegant walk, a dramatic pause, and a group bow to tie it all together. But Anok barely had time to test the dress, forgot to ask for higher heels, and one snag later the entire walk derailed. She dropped the grace, grabbed the dress, switched into “defiant bride,” and kept moving. By the time she saw the cameras, her brain had one tab open, and that was “run”. Backstage meltdown, apology, chaos. Guram? “How did you think of that?!”. Of course he loved it, everyone was sold, the Internet basically treated it like performance art.
For SS26 Guram’s vision was finding the beauty pulled from the chaos of turmoil, conflict, and global division, a story Anok knew too well. So the plan changed again. The white wedding finale felt wrong in a world this heavy, so Anok was asked to close and channel drama again, in her assigned black wedding dress. She was already one of the very few that knew Guram’s father had suffered a heart attack the day before and would be in surgery during the show. “I was shocked by his strength,” she said. “But there was a point where I think I stopped using my own grief and started expressing the emotions Guram couldn’t show publicly. His sadness, his worry, his hope. My tears came from that shared understanding…” But messaging doesn’t cut it, this was storycraft, a Gvasalia signature.
Runway Piece That Made Me Gasp Out Loud
Daniel Roseberry’s beating heart for Schiaparelli
Few designers pour themselves into a house like Roseberry does, the brand’s identity today owes him plenty. But in his Fall 25 Couture collection he really outdid himself. The collection did its job, but it was one look in particular that still kindly refuses to leave my mind.
An organ-shaped heart crusted in red rhinestones, stuck on a fake décolletage, pulsing like it had somewhere else to be, I was left with no words, and that doesn’t happen very often (sorry can’t help it). It’s Salvador Dali’s imagination paying homage to his “Royal Heart” art piece, a muse Elsa Schiaparelli was famously inspired by, Roseberry sure knows how to carry on tradition. The necklace was sitting on top, dare I say on the back of a red satin dress in the shape of a torso, stomach, breasts, and all. For a second, I genuinely thought the model’s head was attached the wrong way and started running scenarios. Update, none of them make sense. It flirts with your disbelief and still makes your heart stop, yet its own doesn’t. Neither does the house’s, as long as it’s in Roseberry’s hands. And it takes a good pair of hands to prove that fashion and art aren’t separate worlds, the right one will make breathing art, maybe even beating.
Look I’m Still Not Over
Teyana Taylor’s Met Gala edit
This year’s Met Gala had the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” and Taylor had all eyes on her, that was collectively agreed upon the fashion industry. The creative paired up with costume designer Ruth E. Carter and I’d put money on both of them already having next year’s invitations tucked in their pockets.
“As we embarked on our journey in this country, we were stripped of everything, a lot of times the only thing you had was to show it on your body.”, “The Met is Teyana Taylor’d to you, it’s the moment we were waiting on.” the creatives shared with Vogue. And so was the three-piece suit, the floor-grazing coat with impossibly bold structured shoulders, the even longer cape on top of it, the feathered hat and silk durag beneath it, and those terrifying-level high platform boots she wore. The appearance was as extra as needed, think David Yurman crystals, leather gloves, pants-hanging chains, brooches, flowers, and embroidery spelling out “Rose of Harlem” across the cape. She successfully brought dandy style to that carpet and suddenly the room remembered whose elegance sets the standard, black culture has always written the rules of cool.
2025, you were a runway of surprises, from designer break-ups to couture heartbeats. But you reminded me why I love this world so much. Luxury has its chaos, and chaos has its beauty. Here’s to 2026, may it be just as dramatic and just as bold. And may my camera roll survive it all.
