2025 in fashion

Rosita Missoni was a co-founder of Missoni and a foundational figure in Italian fashion. She died at 93. Independent Italian knitwear lost one of its defining names.

Michael Rider officially began his tenure as Celine’s artistic director on January 1 2025. The appointment marked the start of the Rider era and set the stage for his debut collection later that year. Celine entrusted him with overseeing all collections, including ready‑to‑wear and accessories.

On 9 January 2025, Y/Project confirmed it would cease operations after 14 years. The closure marked the end of one of Paris fashion’s more singular recent voices and served as another reminder of how precarious independence had become.

Fashion advertising rarely looks that provocative by accident, and Oliviero Toscani was one reason. The photographer behind Benetton’s defining campaigns died at 82. His death removed one of the medium’s sharpest image-makers from its living history.

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez stepped back from day-to-day creative leadership at Proenza Schouler. Because they were leading the house they founded, the move carried a different charge from an ordinary executive shuffle. Founders were ceding daily authorship of their own label.

The Dries Van Noten Studio, directed by Julian Klausner, presented the Autumn/Winter 2025-26 menswear collection in Paris. The result read as a genuine bridge collection: a house in motion, yet not quite at a fully declared new phase. It made the transition legible without pretending the handover was already complete.

Kim Jones closed his Dior Men tenure with the Fall 2025 show in Paris. The departure was confirmed only days later, but the collection had already fixed the last image of his chapter at the house. As a result, the season registered not as a routine runway stop but as one of the year’s clearest menswear farewells.

Peter Copping opened his Lanvin tenure during Paris Fashion Week. The show also returned the house to the Paris schedule, which gave the debut a little extra ceremony. A house trying to reassert itself did so with a first collection rather than a statement.

Chanel entered couture week still in a vacancy period, with the Spring/Summer 2025 haute couture collection presented by the house studio. At a house watched this closely, the absence of a named successor was visible in its own right. The collection made that interregnum public, and unusually hard to dismiss as a merely administrative interval.

Jean Paul Gaultier continued its guest-couture model with Ludovic de Saint Sernin designing the Spring 2025 collection. By this stage the format was no longer novel, which made the show’s assurance more significant. Rather than feeling procedural, it suggested that the rotating-author approach had settled into the house’s couture identity.

Alessandro Michele brought his Valentino haute couture debut, Vertigineux, to Paris on 29 January 2025. Couture gave his new chapter immediate definition rather than a slow introduction. Early in the year, the house announced its altered scale and tone with unusual directness.

Kering installed British designer Louise Trotter as creative director of Bottega Veneta on January 30 2025. With experience at Joseph and Lacoste, she was tasked with steering the leather‑goods house into a fresh chapter. Her appointment represented a significant leadership shift within the Kering portfolio.

Maison Margiela placed Glenn Martens in the creative director seat. He arrived from Diesel and Y-Project after John Galliano, which is not the sort of succession that passes quietly. The house moved from one unmistakable author to another.

After seven years, Kim Jones exited Dior menswear. His tenure had become a defined chapter in the line’s recent history, so the departure left a clean vacancy rather than a vague drift. Dior Men was suddenly open terrain again.

FamilyMart named Nigo creative director on 5 February 2025, extending the authorship story well beyond luxury houses and runway calendars. His remit covered next-generation stores, product strategy and branding, which made the role unusually expansive. The appointment showed how fashion-style creative leadership was being applied to mass retail with no great embarrassment about the crossover.

Kering announced that Gucci and Sabato De Sarno had ended their collaboration. The statement shut his chapter at the house with corporate neatness and very little sentimental fog. Gucci was back in search mode almost at once.

Area appointed Nicholas Aburn creative director on 7 February 2025, bringing in a successor from Balenciaga’s couture studio after Piotrek Panszczyk’s departure. Because the change carried the brand beyond its founding pair, it had more structural weight than a routine reshuffle. Area entered a genuinely post-founder phase.

Veronica Leoni’s first Calvin Klein Collection runway landed in New York. It also brought Calvin Klein Collection back to the runway there, so the show had two jobs from the outset. New author, old platform restored.

Lorenzo Serafini began his Alberta Ferretti chapter on the Milan runway. First collections are where polite anticipation runs out and the clothes have to do the talking. The handover became real the moment the debut left backstage.

Gucci presented its Fall 2025 collection in Milan through the in-house design office after Sabato De Sarno’s exit.

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Fendi opened its centenary year with a co-ed Autumn/Winter 2025 show in Milan on 26 February 2025. Staged at the brand’s new headquarters, it paired heritage cues with sharper modern lines and set the tone for a year of anniversary events.

Luke and Lucie Meier’s Fall 2025 show became the final Jil Sander collection of their joint tenure. With the exit announced immediately afterwards, the runway acquired the charge of a true farewell rather than an ordinary Milan stop. It therefore stands as one of the year’s cleaner, more publicly legible house endings.

Donatella Versace’s Fall 2025 collection became her last before stepping down as chief creative officer. The Milan show therefore carried more than seasonal weight, marking the close of a defining chapter at the house. In annual terms, it fixed Versace’s transition to a specific and highly visible final runway moment.

Haider Ackermann’s first Tom Ford collection appeared in Paris. It was one of early 2025’s headline debuts there, which meant the runway had to establish a point of view immediately. The tenure began in full public glare, not gentle introduction.

Sarah Burton unveiled her first Givenchy collection during Paris Fashion Week. The debut was already one of the season’s most scrutinised Paris shows before a look crossed the runway. It fixed the starting coordinates of her Givenchy tenure under unusually bright light.

Carven appointed Mark Howard Thomas director of design in March 2025 after Louise Trotter’s exit. Because the change followed internal restructuring and kept the next step in-house, the result read less as spectacle than as managed continuity. Quiet successions still say plenty when so many houses are being loudly reset.

Jil Sander appointed Simone Bellotti creative director on 10 March 2025, opening a new chapter for the house after Lucie and Luke Meier. Arriving from Bally, he entered one of the period’s most closely watched succession cycles. For Jil Sander, the significance lay in authorship: a familiar house, but newly handed over.

Gucci chose Demna as artistic director. He crossed over from Balenciaga and replaced Sabato De Sarno, which instantly changed the temperature of the conversation around the house. On paper it was an appointment; in practice it was a hard reset.

Donatella Versace stepped down as chief creative officer and moved into a chief brand ambassador role. She remained inside the business, but not in the chair that had defined her public place within it. Versace kept the family name in the room while moving the creative power elsewhere.

Jonathan Anderson left Loewe after eleven years. That is long enough for one designer to become inseparable from a house’s recent identity, which is exactly why the departure carried weight. Loewe was not just changing personnel; it was losing the author of an era.

Loewe selected Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez as its new creative directors. The Proenza Schouler founders stepped in after Jonathan Anderson, so the handover carried both continuity of profile and a clear break in authorship. A house known for a sharply drawn vision was entering a new one.

Mugler confirmed Casey Cadwallader’s departure on 25 March 2025, with the exit taking effect at the end of the month. His leaving closed a recognisable chapter for the house and opened an important vacancy almost immediately. Among the season’s exits, this was one of the clearer instances of a brand stepping into an uncertain interval.

Versace appointed Dario Vitale as chief creative officer. He arrived from Miu Miu and replaced Donatella Versace, so the change was both professional and dynastic in feel. The house moved into a post-Donatella creative structure at the top.

Mugler appointed Miguel Castro Freitas creative director effective 1 April 2025, replacing Casey Cadwallader and installing a successor from Sportmax. The house was spared a long vacancy and moved quickly into its next phase. The decision also set up one of the autumn season’s more closely watched debuts.

There would be no standalone June 2025 London Fashion Week. The British Fashion Council shifted attention toward Paris showrooms and support for British menswear instead. The London calendar lost one of its fixed points and looked thinner for it.

Prada Group struck a definitive agreement to acquire Versace from Capri Holdings. At that stage the deal was announced, not yet completed; the ownership change was still moving through its formal process. It put one of 2025’s biggest fashion-business plays squarely on the table.

Jean Paul Gaultier appointed Dutch designer Duran Lantink as its creative director on April 15 2025, ending the maison’s rotating guest‑designer experiment. Charged with leading both couture and ready‑to‑wear, Lantink brought a bold, sustainable vision to the brand. The permanent handover signalled a pivotal shift toward stability and fresh creativity at the storied house.

Dior appointed Jonathan Anderson artistic director of menswear on 17 April 2025, in what the row itself frames as the first formal instalment of a broader house shift. Because his remit expanded later, the menswear announcement reads less like an isolated hire than the opening move in a larger reorganisation. Dior’s reset did not arrive all at once.

The Costume Institute opened “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Framed around Black dandyism and fashion history, it was a major museum project rather than a side note in the season. The exhibition gave those histories institutional scale and visibility.

Balenciaga handed the top job to Pierpaolo Piccioli. He arrived from Valentino and replaced Demna, which made the change legible in a single line. The house moved from one highly defined authorial era into another.

Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Cruise 2026 show in Rome became the final Dior collection of her tenure. When the house confirmed her departure two days later, the presentation settled into place as one of 2025’s clearest farewell markers. It provided a public closing image for a major Dior chapter, rather than leaving the ending to announcement alone.

Maria Grazia Chiuri left Dior womenswear and couture after the Cruise 2026 show in Rome served as her farewell. The exit was staged as an ending, not a loose administrative update. It closed her Dior chapter with a final collection already carrying the weight of goodbye.

Dior installed Jonathan Anderson as creative director. He came from Loewe and took over from Maria Grazia Chiuri and Kim Jones, a rare sweep across major parts of the house at once. It was less a tidy succession than a full redrawing of Dior’s creative map.

OTB announced Francesco Risso’s departure from Marni on 18 June 2025 after a decade at the house. The exit closed one of the group’s longest and most distinctive contemporary chapters, and it placed Marni among the labels moving into an in-between phase. Even established tenures were beginning to look less fixed than they once did.

Jonathan Anderson’s first public Dior statement came through the Men’s Spring/Summer 2026 runway. That made it the opening expression of his Dior Men tenure, not a soft launch. The house’s new direction walked out in full view.

Pangaia appointed Kevin Grandal creative director in July 2025 during internal restructuring, bringing in a designer from 1017 ALYX 9SM as the company reconsidered its direction. The hire implied a sharper emphasis on authored design rather than product basics alone. Smaller than some of the headline appointments, yes, but still revealing.

Michael Rider opened his Celine chapter in Paris with the house’s Printemps 2026 debut. As first collections go, this was the one that had to establish the tone immediately. It turned a leadership change into something the industry could actually read.

Demna closed his Balenciaga chapter with a final couture show in Paris before leaving for Gucci. Couture gave the exit a particularly charged last frame; there was no mistaking it as just another date on the schedule. It played like a closing bracket on one of the house’s most recognisable recent eras.

Glenn Martens made his first Maison Margiela statement through Artisanal FW25. Artisanal is not a discreet place to begin, and the debut did not have the luxury of feeling minor. The transition finally had a visible form.

On July 15, 2025 Marni’s parent company OTB Group revealed that Meryll Rogge would become the house’s new creative director. Fresh from winning the 2025 ANDAM Grand Prix, Rogge succeeded Francesco Risso and became the first woman to lead one of OTB’s fashion labels. Her arrival signaled a new direction for Marni and highlighted the group’s broader creative reshuffle.

Proenza Schouler named Rachel Scott creative director. She came from Diotima after Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez stepped back from day-to-day creative leadership. The founders’ house was no longer being run by its founders in the same way, and that changed the stakes immediately.

Soshi Otsuki won the 2025 LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. The award handed one of the year’s strongest institutional endorsements to Japanese menswear. Recognition can alter the mood around a designer quickly; this was that kind of moment.

Giorgio Armani had remained both founder and creative director of the house. His death activated the succession plan and pushed the business into post-Giorgio creative leadership. Few fashion transitions carry that much structural weight from the first day.

Christian Louboutin appointed Jaden Smith creative director for menswear on 17 September 2025, with the added wrinkle that the role itself was newly created. That detail made the decision more than a routine hire. It suggested a brand reconsidering not just personnel, but the shape of creative authority around menswear.

Gucci previewed Demna’s debut direction through the digital “La Famiglia” reveal on 22 September 2025, ahead of a full Milan Fashion Week runway statement. The choice to introduce the new chapter through a controlled prelude made strategy part of the story. It was a notably self-aware way of setting the scene.

Simone Bellotti’s first Jil Sander collection arrived in Milan. The show was watched as part of one of the season’s clearer Milan resets, which gave a debut an extra layer of pressure. Jil Sander’s new direction had to declare itself quickly, and it did so on the runway.

Dario Vitale’s first Versace collection arrived at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana with Spring/Summer 2026. It was the runway proof of a house that had already changed hands creatively. The post-Donatella chapter stopped being abstract that day.

Louise Trotter unveiled her first Bottega Veneta runway in Milan on 27 September 2025, turning an appointment into something visible and assessable. Once the clothes arrived, conjecture had to give way to actual evidence. Few luxury-house debuts that season were examined more closely.

Jonathan Anderson’s first Dior womenswear collection arrived in Paris. After his earlier Dior Men start, this was the point at which the reset extended into the other side of the house. Dior’s new order looked more complete once womenswear entered the picture.

Miguel Castro Freitas presented his first Mugler collection in Paris on 2 October 2025, bringing the house’s post-Cadwallader phase into public view. Up to that point, the change existed chiefly on paper; the show gave it aesthetic form. It was the moment the transition became legible.

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez made their first Loewe runway statement in Paris. For the Proenza Schouler founders, this was the public start of life after Jonathan Anderson at the house. A change announced months earlier finally had form, proportion and evidence.

Pierpaolo Piccioli’s first Balenciaga show arrived with Spring/Summer 2026. It was his opening runway statement for the house, the moment an appointment became visible in clothes rather than headlines. The new era stopped being theoretical the second it hit the catwalk.

Matthieu Blazy made his first Chanel statement at the Grand Palais in Paris. First Chanel collections are never casual occasions, and this one opened the house’s latest transition in public. A new creative hand was suddenly impossible to miss.

Bosideng appointed Kim Jones creative director of its new premium line Areal on 20 October 2025, pairing a major Chinese outerwear company with a designer more readily associated with European luxury. Because the role was newly created and tied to a premium proposition, the decision carried obvious positioning intent. It quietly redrew where prestige and fashion authority might sit.

Hermès announced on October 21, 2025 that Grace Wales Bonner would take over as artistic director of its menswear line. Succeeding long‑serving Véronique Nichanian, she will present her first collection in January 2027. The appointment marked a historic handover and underscored Hermès’ commitment to evolving its menswear identity.

Marina Yee was an Antwerp Six designer whose deconstructive approach helped shape Belgian fashion. She died aged 67. The loss reaches well beyond one label or season, it touches the foundations of that scene.

Lagos Fashion Week won the Earthshot Prize for its Building a Waste-Free World sustainability blueprint. The award came with a £1 million grant behind a model centred on circularity and traditional craftsmanship. That moved the blueprint from admirable initiative to institutionally backed proposition.

Balmain appointed Antonin Tron creative director on 12 November 2025, replacing Olivier Rousteing and bringing in a designer from Atlein. The decision hinted at a different register for the house just as several major Paris names were being redefined. Even late in the calendar, the reshuffle at the top had not finished its work.

Fendi turned to Maria Grazia Chiuri as chief creative officer. She arrived from Dior and replaced Silvia Venturini, giving the house a clear new centre of gravity. The move closed one leadership chapter and opened another without much ambiguity.

Pam Hogg held a singular place in British underground fashion and counterculture. She died in London aged 74. British fashion lost a voice that never had much interest in behaving itself.

Chanel staged Matthieu Blazy’s first Métiers d’art show in New York on 3 December 2025, placing one of the house’s most ceremonious formats inside his opening stretch. The combination of setting, format and timing gave the event unusual symbolic weight. It offered an early view of how Blazy might handle ritual, scale and house theatre.

The Versace deal stopped being a proposal and became a completed fact when Prada Group confirmed closing after regulatory clearances. The transaction had moved from agreement stage to finished ownership change. By then one of the year’s biggest corporate stories had clicked shut.

7 For All Mankind appointed Nicola Brognano creative director on 3 December 2025, bringing in a designer charged with extending the label’s denim-led identity into something broader and more cohesive. The interest lay as much in the brief as in the name. Even at the close of the calendar, brands were still trying to redraw their terms.

Versace announced on 4 December 2025 that Dario Vitale would leave, with the departure taking effect on 12 December. Coming so late in the calendar, the news stretched the atmosphere of churn almost to year’s end. It also left one of the industry’s biggest names in an openly transitional state.