All The Trends At Fashion Month: Olive Green, Naked Dressing, And The Return Of Neckties – Essence

Fashion weeks in February and March are usually quieter than September’s spectacle. Fall/Winter 2025 runway shows challenged that notion through a mix of buzzy designer comebacks, unrivaled celebrity appearances, and unforgettable debuts. Christopher John Rogers, for example, made a triumphant return to New York Fashion Week after a five-year hiatus. Energy in Milan spiked when Doechii opened Dsquared2, walking and performing “Alter Ego” with the City Girls’ JT. In Paris, Haider Ackermann made an already-acclaimed debut as the creative director of Tom Ford. Julian Klausner did the same at Dries Van Noten, as did Sarah Burton at Givenchy. Trends from the season are setting the tone for how we’ll be dressing in the fall: with sensuality amped up, nostalgic touches, and timeless classics.

As exhausting as trends may be—see recent discourse about how microtrends are boosting our conspicuous consumption, or about how following trends from social media risks exhausting personal style—they’re also beautiful for their harmony. Designers aren’t plotting to do the same thing, so when trends emerge, they’re like evidence of unspoken rapport in the collective conscience. Great minds, after all, think alike.

Across Fall/Winter 2025 collections, fashion’s creative leaders were clearly enamored by animal textures, proven by the mass quantities of fur and leather making it down runways, from Fendi’s full-length fur coats to Tom Ford’s snug cowhide pants. With sheer dresses, skirts, and blouses still dominating runways, naked fashion remains one of the biggest trends for Fall/Winter 2025. Nostalgic footwear is also bidding to make its way back onto your feet in the form of over-the-knee boots. Dior revealed these kicks in a lace-up, gladiator style, while Balmain’s had a glossy leather finish.

Collections are about to take us on a fun ride next season. Keep scrolling for the standout looks and for the top Fall/Winter 2025 fashion trends straight from New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Week runways.

Wide Waist Belts

There’s been a tension between relaxed versus cinched waists on runways in recent seasons, but many reached a consensus for Fall/Winter 2025: wide waist belts are ideal for adding a bit of flair to an outfit and highlighting the body’s silhouette. Max Mara put its spin on the look with a double wrap-around belt in warm tones like cherry and chocolate. Isabel Marant added a punk-inspired feel to its wide waist belts with grommets and silver rings.

Heirloom Fur

There used to be a stronger stigma against wearing fur, especially fueled by concerns about animal cruelty and about fur being eco-unfriendly, whether made from an animal or made of plastic. However, the cozy material reigned across innumerable Fall/Winter 2025 runways. Designers like Sergio Hudson, Fendi, Prabal Gurung, and Ganni revealed full-length, voluminous fur coats that aren’t just created to make a statement, but these are the kinds of furs that become heirlooms. These are very much your grandmother’s fabulous fur.

Others put a newer spin on the look, with Chloé’s fur stoles with tails attached (worn by Doechii front row), Simone Rocha’s fringed fur dress, and Etro’s chestnut-hued boleros. Riffing off the clamor for fur and streetwear trends, fur hats and trappers were plentiful on runways. Dsquared2, Acne, and Michael Kors had some of the best.

Cheeky Graphic Tees

Whatever angst designers felt this season, they put it on the catwalk. Cheeky graphic tees were abundant this season thanks to designers like Luar (who made the “I talk shit about you in Spanish” t-shirt) and Ashish (behind the “Up yours” sweater and “wow what a shit show” sequined T-shirt). Others revealed more playful touches, like Sandy Liang’s baby tee inspired by the Toys “R” Us logo or Stella McCartney’s “slippery when wet” top.

All-Leather Everything

Animal fabrics are undeniably growing in popularity, evident not only in the explosion of fur on this season’s runways, but also in the outburst of leather. More than staples (like moto jackets or Matrix-looking outerwear), full leather looks are plentiful in Fall/Winter 2025 collections, from maxi dresses to long jackets. Leather pants are also having a major moment. Tom Ford, under Ackermann, showed straight cut leather pants and skinny ones alike. At Dilara Findikoglu, leather items were touched by traces of kink.

Over-the-Knee Boots Are Back

Over-the-knee boots seem to be making a comeback in tandem with the women that made them so iconic just over 10 years ago. When Beyoncé was performing in her Mrs. Carter World Tour in 2013, for example, she rocked a lot of over-the-knee boots, and so did Lady Gaga in the early 2010s. Now, the sexy footwear is making a raging comeback. What’s most fun is that some looks have a more sleek feel, while others amp up the sensuality with glossy finishes, like Balmain’s oiled leather knee-high boots.

Naked Dressing

Naked dressing has been everywhere in recent years, from celebrity red carpet looks to sheer clothes for day-to-day wear. (If dopamine dressing was a fashion trend in response to being exhausted and down from the pandemic, then not wearing clothes has been the sartorial antithesis of ripping off sweats.) According to Fall/Winter 2025 runways, risqué looks are not going away. Designers like Roberto Cavalli and Blumarine still championed see-through clothes and leg-baring looks. Others like Gucci and Moschino flaunted a sexed-up look through skimpy bralettes with barely-there triangle cups.

Color Trends: Olive Green, Plum, and Cherry 

Colors for fall and winter tend to be a bit more muted—which is why runways saw plenty of ash gray, black, white, and browns—but there are always a handful of hues that dare to stand out. Olive green was especially poignant as a puffer dress at Undercover and as a maxi dress at Ulla Johnson. Plum purples and bright cherry shades also made their mark across monochromatic looks (like a velour set at Tory Burch) and statement pieces (like Rabanne’s deep purple, sequined blouse).

Neckties

If the corp-core aesthetic had a moment in fashion, then it only makes sense that something so associated with the office-ready look is having its moment in the spotlight. Neckties started to bubble up on runways last September, and they’re continuing to seize the moment with new twists. Off-White put a graphic spin on them by adding lettering on its neckties. Avavav had printed and short neckties alike on its Milanese catwalk.