From Paris to Milan, via London and New York, fashion month has closed with a series of highs and lows that have reshaped the industry’s outlook. The emphasis, more often than not, was on product over narrative. Or rather, on a narrative built through leather. This season, leather dominated the catwalks, marking some of the most striking moments. It is now time to take stock and assess the role it played in the newly unveiled collections. Fendi, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Hermès – just some of the houses that made leather their medium of choice. Because if the product is once again at the centre, then leather is setting the agenda – with the occasional comma along the way.
Leather takes the lead
We haven’t seen this much leather in seasons. This round of fashion shows brought it back for several reasons. The most compelling? Its dialogue with the body. Across almost all collections, leather was used to place the body back at the heart of the conversation. Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez did just that in their Loewe debut, with jackets and dresses cut from a single piece, uniting the house’s heritage with a contemporary vision of the body. Or of femininity, as Anthony Vaccarello has consistently done at Saint Laurent, opening his shows with leather for at least two years now. This time was no different: strong, distinctive leather jackets and skirts, worn as a manifesto of a very specific femininity.
Translating it into today
For some, leather was an inevitable choice, rooted in brand DNA. Enter Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta. At her debut for the house, she managed a refreshing update. No easy feat, given Bottega’s iconic intrecciato, a code that can risk becoming a constraint. Instead, Trotter reimagined leather for today, turning it into an accessory to accessories. Alongside high-waisted skirts and mini dresses, she introduced leather scarf-pillows draped over trench coats (leather ones, naturally). At Gucci, Demna too leaned heavily on leather for his carefully chosen debut looks – embossed to mimic crocodile texture or even pre-worn (rumour has it a pre-scratched Jackie sold out instantly). Hermès, meanwhile, pushed leather into overtly sensual territory. And what’s striking is how many young designers embraced it: Francesco Murano, Marco Rambaldi, Giuseppe Buccinnà – all featuring leather in about 50% of their collections.
And the accessories?
The most surprising shift – and perhaps the question for the coming months – is that leather was more present in clothing than in accessories. A novelty, particularly for spring-summer collections. From Milan came mixed signals. At Fendi, Silvia Venturini Fendi paired patchwork leather bags with crochet ones, perhaps to reflect the sporty, pop spirit of the collection. Paris, on the other hand, leaned into accessories – none more than Chanel. At his debut for the French maison, Matthieu Blazy paired a ready-to-wear offering with an inventive line of accessories: the iconic two-tone shoe tipped in red, and a new day bag with multiple compartments. This season, leather became more than material. It became language, attitude, intention – speaking louder than any storytelling.
Photos: Bottega Veneta, Fendi, Saint Laurent
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