The autumn/winter 2025 show season officially wrapped in March, after countless presentations, shows and designer debuts taking place across New York, London, Milan and Paris.
We are of course only just heading into spring, and you may not yet be thinking about those autumnal trends just yet, but the good news is that plenty of the most dominant moments from the catwalk season were timeless and are easy to adapt into your wardrobe right now.
Much of what we saw was the opposite of Quiet Luxury, including the boom boom trends of faux fur and leopard print, as well as the recurring tendency of designers to encourage us to bare some skin. However, there was also a movement towards timeless elegance on the catwalk this season – we saw ladylike lace, the return of pencil skirts, draped wool coats and the most versatile colour refusing to budge, brown.
Below, we round up 10 trends that dominated the autumn/winter 2025 catwalks, and show you how to shop them now.
The faux-fur takeover
If there was one trend that dominated more than any other on the catwalk for AW25, it was faux fur. Impossible to ignore, almost every major fashion house featured it in their collections in the form of floor-length coats, cropped jackets, stoles, handbags, you name it. It was everywhere.
A notoriously controversial fabric (even in its faux iteration), it is a trend that has been gaining traction for a few seasons now, and one that will clearly continue to be divisive, but that will no doubt be everywhere come the autumn.
Altuzarra embraced it with a two-tone dressing gown coat, while Gucci did a cropped brown number and Simone Rocha presented a faux-fur co-ord, as well as lots of fluffy accessories. Gabriela Hearst addressed the sustainability concerns of the fabric, instead using vintage real fur reworked into coats.
If you want to embrace the trend, we suggest buying secondhand, and opting for neutral brown and beige tones for longevity of wear.
Lovely lovely lace
Another prominent, and very ladylike trend, that swept the catwalks for autumn was lace, in both unexpected colour combinations and more neutral tones. The label leading the charge was Saint Laurent whose sleek and sexy silhouettes were this season given an update in beautiful punchy hues. Bella Hadid stormed the catwalk in a power-shouldered blue lace co-ord, while greens, yellows and burgundy also featured.
At Gucci, chic lace leotards in neon hues were paired with skirts, Fendi presented sheer lace blouses and Chloé gave lace a boho makeover with billowing sheer gowns. Meanwhile, Carolina Herrera was all about colourful lace co-ords, Rabanne teamed the fabric with sequins and Stella McCartney, Dior and Louis Vuitton worked with lace trims.
A very easy trend to tap into (and one you know will never truly date), we recommend embracing lace in all its iterations when we move into the new season (or now) – sleek lace slips, crochet lace gowns and lace-trimmed separates are all great ways to do it.
Brown is (still) the new black
The return of brown has been talked about excessively over the past few seasons, but its dominance is showing no signs of slowing down. Whether it came to eveningwear or outerwear, shirting or skirting, earthy brown tones were all over the AW25 catwalks, and are definitely the neutral to embrace now.
In terms of chocolate-toned dresses, Stella McCartney excelled with her structured, strapless ballgown, Michael Kors presented beautiful brown sequins and Tod's paired a dropped-waist dress with matching brown loafers. Meanwhile, we saw brown athleisure at Tory Burch, brown leather at Victoria Beckham and brown faux-fur all over the Gucci catwalk.
Want in? Whether for your date-night wardrobe or your everyday outerwear, it's the neutral of this season (and, likely, many more to come).
The pencil skirt
As always, there was plenty of suiting on the autumn catwalks, but much of it came in the form of the very elegant pencil skirt suit, which had a big presence across the cities, heralding the return of the fitted midi-length separate, which was also teamed with oversized knitwear, strapless bodices and flouncy blouses.
Calvin Klein led the charge with its new brand of minimalism, presenting collarless skirt suits in greys and pinstripes teamed with Nineties pumps and glossy handbags. Meanwhile, for her first Givenchy collection, Sarah Burton designed pencil skirt suits with jackets in hourglass silhouettes in classic colours, and both Gucci and Fendi showed pastel-hued co-ord variations.
But, it was not just for the office – the pencil skirt also dominated when it came to eveningwear, particularly at Ermanno Scervino and Carolina Herrera, who created it in lace and embellished variations. Dior made it work with knee-high boots and Saint Laurent presented bright coloured versions with contrasting shirting.
A great trend to tap into, we suggest investing in a bold colourful style, wearing with a classic white shirt for the office or a slinky camisole come the evening.
Dare to bare
Nudity is all over the red carpets once again. In fact, this award season saw a return to naked dressing in the form of butt-baring gowns and barely-there slip dresses to a scale we have not seen for some time – but the catwalk is adopting revealing dressing in ways that are much more approachable to the rest of us (just, maybe not for the office).
At Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera and MM6 Maison Margiela, it was all about the sheer blouse – light and floaty fabrics paired with tailoring. Meanwhile, the boho dresses at Chloé this season revealed knickers and nipples, as did the dresses and tops at Valentino, Blumarine and Altuzarra – and there were some bumster-level waistlines at Diesel and DSquared2, while Phoebe Philo debuted a backless skirt.
Feel brave enough to try it? We recommend starting off gently with a floaty sheer blouse, teaming it with tailoring or denim, on your next date night, or choosing a transparent but billowing boho dress with big knickers on your beach holiday.
Soft, slouchy bags
We have noticed a move towards squishy bags for a few seasons now – and this trend continued to dominate for autumn/winter 2025. A call back to the Noughties, designers presented totes, clutches and cross-bodies in soft supple leathers and suede, often carried folded up or slung loosely over the shoulder.
This clutch carry was a particularly popular choice at Acne, Stella McCartney and Fendi, who all presented soft leather styles squished under the arm, while Balenciaga, Calvin Klein and Tory Burch gave shoulder bags and totes a slouchy makeover, and Giorgio Armani and Gabriela Hearst were all about suede in soft silhouettes.
Fendi's Mamma Baguette, Givenchy's Voyou and The Row's Bindle are great styles for tapping into the trend, and there are also plenty of affordable squishy options too.
Take a walk on the wild side
If one print dominated for autumn/winter 2025, it was leopard. It is one of those trends that cycles back around every few seasons and never truly goes out of style, but this season it migrated from dominating just outerwear (as it has done for a few years) to taking over dresses, accessories, knitwear and skirt suits.
We particularly loved where designers went full throttle with the print – at Valentino, we saw a fur-trimmed co-ord, Saint Laurent plastered it on vinyl tops and pencil skirts, while Fendi went the whole hog with a leopard skirt suit teamed with leopard boots and a leopard bag, and Khaite gave the print a sultry makeover.
A trademark of these brands, it unsurprisingly dominated the collections at Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Roberto Cavalli, while we also saw others just dipping a toe in. Brandon Maxwell presented a super sleek leopard wrap coat, Schiaparelli said it with a belt and Conor Ives and Etro with footwear.
Whether you go head to toe or just add an accessory, a little leopard will go a long way to looking stylish this coming season.
Capey drapey coats
When it came to outerwear, there was much to covet this season – and one trend that materialised across the four cities were capes or cape-inspired scarf coats that draped across the shoulders.
The super elegant outerwear dominated the New York catwalks – Calvin Klein and Altuzarra presented drapey navy wool coats, while Khaite and Michael Kors put their spin on the trend with layered grey offerings. Meanwhile, Brandon Maxwell sent out a series of printed draped coats with attached scarves, tapping into that much-loved trend of the past few seasons.
We also saw Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton present capes nipped in at the waist with belt bags, McQueen teamed renaissance ruffles with sweeping outerwear, Roksanda embraced drapery, Alberta Ferretti draped cashmere scarf coats over silk dresses and Max Mara did it with a hooded floor-length coat.
Although it's spring right now and these seem like a better investment for autumn, the drapey scarf jacket is actually a super transitional piece, especially in the UK.
Unexpected belting
It came in all sorts of shapes and sizes but it was undoubtedly the accessory of the season – AW25 was all about the belt. Whether it was oversized obi belts, skinny chain belts or double, even triple, belting, the accessory took centrestage on the catwalk this season, and became the easiest way to give your wardrobe a refresh.
Wearing multiple belts was encouraged at Isabel Marant, Christopher Esber, Schiaparelli and Jil Sander, who all piled them on, from western-inspired styles to skinny colourful leather numbers. We also saw unexpected belt moments at Saint Laurent and Balenciaga who added drama to silhouettes with bold designs.
Meanwhile, at Chanel, Chloé and Simone Rocha, the chain belt ruled, and Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton embraced statement belt bags.
Whether wrapped around chunky coats, styled bare on the belly or layered up together on the waist, finding a modern way to style the belt is what the new season is all about – and an easy one to tap into if you're in need of a little outfit update.
The school shoe
In some ways, it was a season of boom boom fashion, but when it came to footwear, although we saw some very over-the-top styles, there was much in the way of practicality too. In fact, one of the most prominent accessories we spotted on the catwalks was the school shoe – coming in variations of lace-up brogues, backless loafers, chunky flats and patent slip-ons. Whether paired with flowing gowns or teamed to match a preppy skirt suit, this comfortable but sleek shoe was everywhere – and might just trump the ballet flat next season.
Miuccia was obviously favouring comfort this autumn as the designer showed loafers at both Miu Miu and Prada, paired with knee-high colourful socks at the former and in patent variations at the latter. Also loving this workwear-appropriate shoe was, unsurprisingly, Veronica Leoni at Calvin Klein, who showed backless loafers and lace-up brogues.
Over at Michael Kors and Alberta Ferretti, the backless loafer was used to dress down eveningwear and Simone Rocha showed chunky black loafers as part of her school-inspired collection.
Of course, it goes without saying that the loafer was already in high demand, so there is no reason to wait for autumn to embrace it. We suggest wearing it with everything from your summer dresses to your jeans – think of it as a smart upgrade on your day-to-day trainers, and don't be afraid to take them into the night too.
