The final day of New York Fashion Week's Spring 2025 season arrived the morning after MTV's 2024 Video Music Awards. During the ceremony, stars like Katy Perry, Chappell Roan, and Tyla wore sheer naked dresses and shredded two pieces with underwear poking through, some (like Perry's) still warm from walking a Spring 2025 runway days before. Covering the VMAs' most memorable looks for Marie Claire reinforced a truth every fashion editor knows: a lot of trends set by designers are designed first and foremost for celebrities. Or social media. Or celebrities who can't stay off social media.
It only took waking up the next morning and heading to work to see the counterpoint to my own argument in flesh, blood, and fabric. And thank goodness: I was running out of things I wanted to wear. The best looks of New York Fashion Week's Spring 2025 collections, championed by women-led brands, of course, aren't designing for shock value—and they're not settling for staid "wearability," either.
