Paris Haute Couture Week 2025: A Summary of the Most Important Events

With today’s events, the four-day Paris Haute Couture Week Fall/Winter 2025, which began on Monday, June 24, 2024, has come to a close. But what were the most important events?

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025: A Summary of the Most Important Events

Monday, June 24

Schiaparelli, 10:00 AM

Schiaparelli’s Haute Couture collection is named “La Fenice,” inspired by the mythical phoenix, an animal that epitomizes the power of reinvention and rebirth from its own ashes, embodying the essence of the grand Elsa Schiaparelli.

The looks featured are characterized by accentuated shoulders, long trains, voluminous skirts, and extreme attention to detail, which is a hallmark of the maison’s creations. The phoenix motif is particularly evident in a black dress adorned with golden embroidery on the upper part, depicting the wings of the phoenix as if enveloping the model’s silhouette and concealing her arms.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Schiaparelli

Feathers played a central role in Schiaparelli’s Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2025 collection. One of the key pieces was a white feather stole paired with a feather-covered fur hat. The stole was a tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli, who wore it in 1941 at the opening of the Ambassadeurs restaurant in Paris to honor the ballerina Anna Pavlova, known for her performance in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The two, besides being good friends, were often mistaken for one another due to their very similar features and short black hair.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Schiaparelli

Daniel Roseberry, the creative director of the maison, stated:

“Recently, I was told that people don’t buy Schiaparelli, they collect it. This is what makes Haute Couture so special: it is the expression of my vision of the maison today, free from marketing and merchandising. But it is also something else: a way to honor this relationship, one of the most intimate in the world, where I give women the power to be reborn, again and again and again.” (Vogue)

Dior, 2:30 PM

For this Haute Couture collection, Maria Grazia Chiuri drew inspiration from the upcoming Paris Olympics, presenting looks that celebrated women and their achievements in sports, starting from antiquity and Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Dior

The collection is a tribute to women and their bodies, which become the central focus of the show. Draped in peplos that follow their movements and dressed in light silhouettes in white and metallic colors, the models wore pieces sometimes embellished with glittery and transparent tank tops that wrapped around their torsos like thin armor. The gladiator sandals also evoke those worn by Greek goddesses in mythology, as do the more statuesque dresses, adorned with drapes and pleats.

The luxury proposal of swimsuits, embellished with golden feather embroidery and sequins, was also present, adhering to the sporty theme that inspired the collection’s creation.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Dior

“This collection represents for Chiuri an extraordinary opportunity to intertwine couture, sportswear, classicism, rebellion, collective energy, but above all, the political value of the female body. It affirms the experimental and reflective power of the research that defines the actions of haute couture and its ability to rethink the forms of femininity as simultaneously delicate and powerful, capable of performing equally alongside men, albeit in different ways.” (Vogue)

Thom Browne, 5:00 PM

Thom Browne also drew inspiration from the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games for his collection, as evident from the headpiece of the final look on the runway, which features Olympic laurel leaves. Additionally, another direct reference to the sports world is the whistle-shaped bags.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Thom Browne

Overcoats and coats alternated between more oversized, layered versions and extremely fitted versions that perfectly accompany the body’s silhouette. Additionally, many suits are split in half, with one part appearing incomplete, still in progress. Other garments feature trompe l’oeil embroidery done with red thread, almost reminiscent of the internal muscular structure.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Thom Browne

Giambattista Valli, 7:30 PM

Giambattista Valli’s collection shows that India is never far from the designer’s heart. Whenever he can, he retreats to Jaipur to immerse his senses in the city’s healing pink aura. The experience of lying among the fragrant shrubs and beautiful flowers of the Suryagarh gardens in Jaisalmer is akin to “a caress for the soul,” he said in an interview with Vogue. He wanted this fashion collection to replicate the same feeling of “supreme well-being.”

The floral theme is evident in all his dresses, reflected in volume, color, and patterns. The colors, mostly pastel and very delicate, are amplified by the voluminous shapes and the abundance of materials used, such as tulle and organza. A few pieces feature colors other than blush pink and white, such as purple, yellow, and fuchsia.

In line with a trend popular since the winter season of 2023/2024, the corsets are substantial, tending towards an exaggerated three-dimensionality, yet perfectly in line with the artist’s style.

Even the footwear, mainly heeled and flat sandals, follows the theme of the show. An interesting choice was (perhaps) to make the models resemble flowers themselves, rather than just dressing them with flowers. They were accessorized with colored petals matching the dress they wore, to the extent that they wore no jewelry at all.

The focal point was the artwork they were dressed in.

Tuesday, June 25

Chanel, 10:00 AM

With its Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024/2025 collection, the maison presented its most theatrical side, in keeping with the opulence of the location that hosted the show.

Tweed, Chanel’s trademark, abounded among the looks presented, interpreted in various shapes, especially suits with midi skirts. Everything, however, was embellished with jeweled details, such as buttons, feathers, and precious embroidery.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Chanel

References to the luxurious classicism of the maison’s past, characterized by bon ton and elegance, were not lacking, with an abundance of puffed sleeves, romantic bows, and pleated ruffles. Additionally, there were nods to the world of dance, a sport for which Chanel has often designed stage costumes, such as for Train Bleu (1924) and Apollon Musagète (1928).

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Chanel

The color palette of the collection is rather neutral, with a preference for black and pastel tones. There was also the proposal of a wedding dress made of taffeta, embellished with 3D flower appliqués on the bodice, puffed sleeves, and tulle at the waist.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025 – Chanel

Giorgio Armani Privé, 6:30/7:30 PM

The Haute Couture collection by Giorgio Armani Privé exudes luxury in every detail. Neutral colors dominate the entire collection, with shades of white, black, platinum, and gold meticulously embellished with Swarovski crystals and pearls. The concept aims to offer sophisticated beauty, characterized by high-quality garments and meticulous attention to detail.

Important accessories are not continuously featured, as the garments and suits themselves are already significant and eye-catching, signaling the end of the era of quiet luxury. Even the bags, though small, are delicate jewels that provide an alternative touch to the outfits.

The bodices of the dresses tend to be rigid, resembling sculptures, while the lower part remains soft and fluid, enveloping the models’ silhouettes. Many of the jackets proposed for the suits are also structured, with references to the 1980s and voluminous shoulders.

Wednesday, June 26th

Balenciaga, 12:00 PM

Balenciaga’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection introduces oversized fashion, pushing volumes to the extreme. The outfits presented reflect street style with nods to the 1990s when dressing oversized was preferred.

Some outfits appear composed of multiple layers intertwined in a unique weave. Puffer jackets dominate, sometimes even used as skirts.

Headwear alternates between feathers and wide-brimmed black hats with white T-shirts worn as part of the ensemble. Models also sport butterfly-shaped “glasses,” decidedly not small.

Leather is also frequently featured, a hallmark material for the brand.

Jean Paul Gaultier, 6:30 PM

The third day of Paris Haute Couture Week featured Jean Paul Gaultier’s runway show as the highlight. Since the designer’s farewell in 2020, each season has seen a new designer reinterpret his haute couture collections. For Fall/Winter 2024-25, Nicolas Di Felice, artistic director of Courrèges and acclaimed master of sexy minimalism, was chosen.

The initial silhouettes presented included a draped black trench dress with a wide collar and a veil covering the model from eyes to feet; a shorter leather version with the same veil to maintain balance; a flowing black column dress with a neckline reaching eye level; and a consistent exploration of corsets, lingerie, and transparencies.

Paris Haute Couture Week 2025: A Summary of the Most Important Events