How will we dress next season? Fashion trends and which icons will dictate our style choices
Autumn is never a neutral season. It is always a time of transition, of gathering, of rebirth. Days grow shorter, the light turns oblique, fabrics become heavier. The Fall 2025 fashion trends are no exception, in fact, they seem to perfectly embody that ambiguous feeling that only October and November can deliver. We’re not looking at a single direction, but at a plurality of aesthetic worlds that intertwine, clash, and contaminate one another: regal nostalgia and punk rebellion, gothic romanticism and ironic sloppiness, decadent poetry and rural pragmatism. This year’s runways didn’t just present collections; they told visual stories. Every fall look was a small manifesto, a snapshot of everyday life translated into the language of dreams. And so, next to shearling coats screaming Almost Famous, we saw retro cardigans that look like they came straight out of a flea market, or Victorian jabots that would have made John Keats blush. It’s as if fashion had decided to challenge the dictatorship of perfection to give us back something truer: a wardrobe of souls, more than clothes. It’s a season that invites you to play, to perform roles, to invent new versions of yourself, moving effortlessly from the Scottish countryside to Berlin’s underground clubs, from the university library to the backstage of a 1970s concert.
How to dress for fall 2025: icons and trends
English countryside: waterproof elegance
Icon: Queen Elizabeth II
Key items: rain boots, waterproof parkas, capes, multicolored plaids, tartan skirts, barn jackets, silk scarves, Fair Isle sweaters
On the catwalks: Burberry, Tibi, Onitsuka Tiger, Loro Piana, Ralph Lauren, Bottega Veneta, The Row, Anna Sui, Brandon Maxwell, Missoni, Paul Costelloe
The English countryside returns center stage, though not in a sugar-coated version. This season invites us to rediscover the rural style beloved by Queen Elizabeth II, queen not only of an empire but also of a functional, practical, timeless wardrobe. The plaid becomes the absolute symbol of autumn, reimagined by Burberry in its most classic form and by Tibi in a futuristic key, with metallic inserts and saturated colors. It’s no longer just a fabric, but a manifesto evoking resistance to rain, adaptability to the landscape, loyalty to tradition. Rain boots, waxed coats, tartan skirts, and scarves knotted under the chin turn nostalgia into chic functionality. Perfect for a weekend in Balmoral or a horseback ride across the Gloucestershire moors, yet equally fitting for any gloomy October day. And then, it can take on a grunge twist. Just add a checked shirt or a rebellious mini-skirt like Chopova Lowena’s designs, and plenty of attitude.
Poetic romanticism: between bows and gothic shadows
Icon: Lord Byron, Tilda Swinton in Orlando, Patti Smith
Key items: white shirts with ruffles, black jackets, Victorian jabots, slip dresses, lace details, puff sleeves
On the catwalks: McQueen, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Ann Demeulemeester, Dior, Valentino, Antonio Marras
On the runways of Alexander McQueen, Chanel, and Ann Demeulemeester, the wind blows melancholy. It’s the echo of Lord Byron and the 19th-century poets, reborn in black jackets, white shirts adorned with jabots, bows, and ruffles. The aesthetic is theatrical, with a gothic touch rewriting the grammar of seduction: puffed sleeves, sheer lace, and Victorian details that make gothic romanticism more alive than ever. Valentino and Dior propose dramatic total looks in black and white, while Louis Vuitton and McQueen play with the contrast between slip dresses and Elizabethan-tragedy embroidery. The result: a wardrobe that is poetic, dark, and heart-wrenching. Fashion that doesn’t just dress the body, it builds a character: the poetess, the pirate queen, the heroine, the muse suspended between eras and emotions.
OG Party Girl: the coolest librarian
Icon: Parker Posey in Party Girl
Key items: printed pencil skirts, retro cardigans, vintage glasses, jeweled brooches
On the catwalks: Miu Miu, Gucci, Fendi, No. 21, Marc Jacobs, Anteprima
There’s an ironic, irresistible comeback: the 1990s It girl. Parker Posey in Party Girl becomes the muse of Miu Miu, Gucci, and Fendi, who revive the nerd-chic charm of the eccentric librarian. Printed pencil skirts, pastel cardigans, jeweled brooches, and retro glasses form a look that isn’t afraid of being a little kitsch. Today’s party girl isn’t just the queen of the dancefloor, she’s a woman mixing pop culture, irony, and intellectual glamour. Runways staged this mood with deliberately excessive pairings, evoking both nostalgia and a hyper-contemporary aesthetic. A hymn to female boldness, dressed in wool cardigans seemingly stolen from an eccentric aunt’s closet, turning dissonance into a strength. It’s not mere nostalgia: it’s a sophisticated reinterpretation that plays with nerd aesthetics, transforming them into glamour. A look that speaks of irony, pop culture, and freedom of expression. No surprise Parker Posey herself sat front row at Gucci, crowning an aesthetic that bridges illegal raves and library shelves.
Imperfect elegance: luxury that trips gracefully
Icon: Helena Bonham Carter, Megan Stalter in Too Much
Key items: oversized, disproportionate cardigans, nerd glasses, tartan skirts, slip dresses, oversized coats, soft turtlenecks
On the catwalks: Miu Miu, Prada, SS Daley, Calvin Klein, Brandon Maxwell, Khaite
A new paradigm crosses the Fall 2025 runways, an oxymoron of fragility and strength: imperfect elegance. No longer just the irreverence of faux-sloppiness, nor merely the relaxed sensuality of undone chic, but a fusion that transforms lack of control into sophisticated luxury. It’s an ode to nonchalance: the shirt worn crooked, the sweater slipping off the shoulder, the skirt hanging too long or too short, the slip-dress strap left to fall with casual indifference. This aesthetic speaks to the woman who truly lives, dressing not for social media but for herself. Miu Miu, Prada, and SS Daley interpreted it with irony and joy, filling runways with oversized cardigans, nerd glasses, tartan skirts, and lopsided vests. Elsewhere, the mood turned more sensual and refined: Calvin Klein, Brandon Maxwell, and Khaite turned disorder into elegance, pairing silky slip dresses with oversized coats, soft turtlenecks, and garments that look “accidentally” thrown on, with the art that only perfectly staged chance can achieve. The message is clear: beauty is no longer synonymous with perfection, but with lived life. Imperfection becomes a manifesto, fatigue becomes style, neglect becomes chic. A fashion that cannot be imitated with a filter, because it is profoundly human. That is its luxury: making desirable what was once considered a flaw.
Penny Lane: the immortal groupie
Icon: Kate Hudson in Almost Famous, Stevie Nicks, Olsen twins
Key items: shearling coats, flared jeans, boho belts, billowy blouses, maxi dresses, fringe
On the catwalks: Chloé, Valentino, Anna Sui, Rabanne, Giambattista Valli, Blumarine, Zimmermann
Few style icons have endured across decades like Penny Lane in Almost Famous. Her shearling coat with faux-fur collar became a legend, and now returns on the runways of Chloé, Louis Vuitton, Blumarine, and Rabanne. Her aesthetic is an explosive mix: flared jeans, boho belts, billowy blouses, sheer fabrics, Afghan coats, suede, floral and animal prints, and the aura of a nomadic muse. This season, Penny Lane, along with icons like Stevie Nicks, Pamela Des Barres, Anita Pallenberg, and early-2000s girls like Sienna Miller, Kate Moss, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, is everywhere: not only in coats, but also in soft silhouettes, low-rise pants, and ‘70s-inspired colors. It’s a look scented with freedom, travel, music, evoking the archetype of rebellious femininity, a woman living on the road between concerts, loves, and adventures. Fashion houses paid homage to her aura with outfits blending lightness and charisma. A trend scented with patchouli and freedom, ready to conquer the wardrobes of new urban groupies.
Nouveau Dowdy: the return of "uncool"
Icon: la signora anonima al mercato (archetipo dowdy)
Key items: gray suits, midi skirts, long coats, retro gloves
On the catwalks: Tibi, Gucci, Fendi
And here comes the most surprising trend: nouveau dowdy, the art of dressing as if no trend existed. Paper-gray suits, below-the-knee midi skirts, overly long coats, retro gloves: the aesthetic of 1970s and ‘80s middle-aged women suddenly becomes the new cool horizon. Tibi and Gucci’s runways proved it with deliberately “uncomfortable” looks, unusual proportions, silhouettes that don’t aim to please, but end up fascinating precisely because of that. It’s the revenge of those who never changed their style, who stay true to themselves beyond fashion. A paradoxical elegance: precisely because it doesn’t seek approval, it becomes irresistible.
