The collections gave us what we’ve been waiting for — a jolt of inspiration, a new reason to want to shop again. There was a welcome sense of freshness and authenticity, with clothes that sparked conversation both on and off the runway. At the Tuileries for Dior, Jonathan Anderson sent out ballooning Bar jackets, frothy tutu-like minis edged in scallops, and oversized raffia flowers. It was the most playful Dior has allowed itself to be in years. Over at Chanel, Matthieu Blazy continued his success, breathing new life into a once-staid house; in his fourth outing, he proposed ultra-drop-waisted and belted silhouettes with flapper-inspired flair and reimagined the house’s signature boucle tweed in ways that felt genuinely inspired. 

Of course, not everything landed. Some collections puzzled, others divided, and a few felt uneven, predictable, or — at worst — completely underwhelming. Still, taken as a whole, it was a brilliant season: not flawless by any means, but charged with enough energy, drama, and high points to make fashion feel exciting again — and, even more importantly, worth waiting in line to shop. There was also a strong showing from a new guard of designers on the rise. As always, I find myself drawn beyond the legacy houses and established names and toward those emerging talents who are still flying under the radar. So, without further ado, here are the lesser-known brands and collections that excited me most this season. 

EENK: D for Duplicity

Seoul-based label EENK’s founder and creative director Hyemee Lee likes to play with letters. (Her brand’s name, after all, is a purposefully misspelled reference to “ink” and her father’s printing business.) The designer presented the fourth chapter in her ongoing Letter Project, conceived as a way of building an alphabet around her brand’s universe. For fall-winter at Paris Fashion Week, she arrived at “D” for Duplicity, working with the theme of duality. Set inside the Palais de Tokyo, the show opened with two dancers embodying the push and pull of opposing ideas. On the runway, disciplined lines of tailoring were set against explosions of softly layered volume. Standouts were the reversible outerwear that can be flipped to show a different side of the self. There was also a fantastic soft-shouldered leather jacket with oversized epaulettes and double lapels. Polka dots appeared in a feminine, ultra-ruffled skirt and just as convincingly on sharply tailored blazers.

What I loved most

The superb tailoring, the sophisticated color sense, the breadth of the collection. I was especially drawn to the pieces woven from branded ribbons that loosened into long, uneven fringe at the hem. Oh, and the layers and layers of ruffles in the show-closing looks. 

Florentina Leitner: ‘You are a Star’

Movies are a frequent source of inspiration for Florentina Leitner. This season, she pulled references from several female-centric stories. First, Mia Thermopolis’s ascension in The Princess Diaries from a free-spirited, awkward kid to a self-possessed royal. “You are a star,” the show notes read. “You need to keep going, become a winner, and not give up on your dreams.” That was the premise of the Austrian designer’s show, which drew visual cues from the film’s pajama-clad sleepover scene, as well as Carrie Bradshaw’s last-minute New Year’s Eve look in Sex and the City. Several pull-on and drawstring looks captured that ease, mixed with bedtime routine staples: breezy boxer shorts, easy knits, soft hoodies, and printed T-shirts layered under spaghetti-strap tops. A lacy dress with embellishments at the hem reminded me of glow-in-the-dark star stickers scattered across the bedroom ceilings of every adolescent. Bows and beauty queen sashes — along with sleeping masks and glittery tiaras — were wins in the accessory department.

What I loved most

How Florentina Leitner mastered the art of combining comfort with ruffle-edged femininity. The high-low mix came through best in a giant-bow-adorned tank teamed up with a semi-sheer sequined skirt, with flash flash of bright fuchsia lingerie peeking through.

Caroline Hu: Reverie

Almost all of us have those objects with special meaning — well-worn garments, beloved stuffed animals, tangible things we refuse to let go. For Caroline Hu, it’s a tattered towel she’s kept since birth. That became the jumping-off point for the Chinese designer, who has a deep-seated love for art and always suffuses her work with romantic flourishes and delicate detail. This collection, more than ever, exhibited the kind of couture-adjacent craft she’s now known for. Peter Pan collars overlapped like the crisp layers of a sfogliatelle. Flower heads bloomed inside clouds of tulle. Fabrics took on a gauzy fragility, distressed to the brink of disintegration. Impossibly intricate smocking was lavished onto a jacket-and-skirt ensemble that took 200 hours to create by hand. “The fabric is formed in a single piece, with layers of pleated materials in different colors to create an oil-painting effect,” she wrote on Instagram. 

What I loved most

Caroline’s skill and imagination. I love that she can’t resist a little theatrics. At the show, models danced down the runway, allowing the garments to come alive with every motion. Threadbare sleeves wafted, ruffled trains rippled through the air, and frothy tulle skirts swirled to an ineffably delicate piano melody.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by L’ABBEYE (@labbeye)