Dries Van Noten bid adieu to the runway with a spellbinding farewell SS25 collection in Paris. His soirée was akin to a family wedding, culminating in a mesmerizing fashion show that echoed his illustrious career. The night erupted into celebration as a mirror ball the size of a house flickered to life.
Van Noten's Spring Summer 2025 men's collection was fresh yet familiar, with nods to past shows like the Autumn 2011 Bowie-inspired men's and the Autumn 2009 Bacon-inspired women's collections. The silver-leaf runway, reminiscent of Autumn 2006, left guests with shimmering mementos. His final collection was a masterclass in relaxed elegance and artful embellishments.
Who would have known a fashion heartbreak could hurt so badly? Yesterday, in anticipation of Dries Van Noten‘s last show ever, the fashion industry was going through a collective mourning. Today, it’s a collective hungover, and not the most uplifting one. The thought that spring-summer 2025 collection was the last Dries show by Dries, and that there won’t be a Dries moment every Paris Fashion Week is just way too much to handle. I can hardly imagine how will this brand operate without its founder, and please, whoever takes it over - don’t dare to remove “Dries” from the brand name. And I really hope it’s true that Van Noten will quietly advise the design team or the still unknown successor for the next couple of seasons. Still, I want to own every single piece from the Belgian designer’s final outing, his 120th one (he held his first ever Paris runway show back in 1991), as it’s absolutely, quintessentially DVN. The show was opened by Alain Gossuin, silver-fox model who walked Van Noten’s first show. The celebration of the designer’s maverick work was closed by a parade of his all-time favourite models - Małgosia Bela, Debra Shaw, Kirsten Owen - as well as new faces. This wasn’t a collection of literal “greatest hits”, but it had all ingredients that made Dries Van Noten a space for people who didn’t want fashion, but style. No dramatic gowns or somber eveningwear, but highly wearable garments for everyday life. Dries was really committed to innovation here, experimenting with unlikely fabrics like brushed wool fused to neoprene or a crinkled polyamide that he likened to glass. “I didn’t want to make old clothes, and things which are looking old,” he said backstage. “But you have the transparent tops which sometimes catch some memories, and that for me was important.” Then, the color palette. The transition across shiny ripe purples, that incredible pink silk overcoat, the apricot mohairs, and pistachio lurex… this was Dries in full bloom, and a reminder he’s the ultimate colorist in fashion. The runway laid out with silver foil was later on replaced with a huge disco-ball for the after-party. The designer didn’t want to make his good-bye a teary one (still, many tears were dropped, at the show and in front of screens), but rather joyous. He’s about to start a fresh phase of life, leaving fashion on his own terms. That’s what the greatest do! The legacy of the antwerp six will forever be baked into the conscience of fashion history.
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