A new season is officially upon us, and the spring/summer 2025 catwalks were awash with inspiration for new ways of dressing and excellent ideas for updating your wardrobe. When it came to what was trending for SS25, there were new spins on familiar favourites, surprising prints and colours, and plenty of styling tricks.
A few comfortable and practical pieces dominated the catwalks, including the windbreaker and the flip flop, but there was also lots of glamour to be had in the sunset colour palette, the fabulous fringing and the romantic ruffles we saw popping up again and again.
Below, we round up the 10 spring/summer 2025 fashion trends to embrace for the season ahead, and show you how to shop them now. If you're already thinking about next season though, see our guide to the autumn/winter 2025 trends here.
Check it out
We won't make the groundbreaking joke from The Devil Wears Prada, but for plaid to be trending in spring is pretty...unusual. The print – which is defined as a checkered pattern with alternating stripes in different bands of colour – tends to dominate in the cooler seasons but was all over the catwalk for spring/summer 2025.
It was used in subtle ways at Tod's with the print underlining sheer material on several looks, used head to toe at Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, and was also the dominant print in Acne's collection with designer Jonny Johansson using it on strapless dresses, jumpsuits, jackets and statement skirts. Vivienne Westwood, Bottega Veneta, Burberry and Collina Strada all also embraced the autumnal print in their spring collections.
Want in? There are plenty of ways to do it, whether you combine different plaids or just have a hint of the print in your ensemble – a plaid shoe or bag looks great with an all-black outfit.
The windbreaker
One of the most surprisingly practical trends of the season, and one that we're likely to be grateful for in the depths of the wet British summer, was the sporty waterproof. Embraced by several designers for SS25, the humble windbreaker took centrestage when it came to outerwear – but, importantly, was always styled in an elevated way.
At Prada, it was presented in bright yellow and worn over an embellished dress (one that featured 2,500 sequins no less), it was part of an elaborate tutu creation at Simone Rocha and was worn over a crochet dress at Zimmermann. Miu Miu, The Attico, Rabanne and Michael Kors all gave the style a new spin, while Burberry and Vivienne Westwood presented practical waterproof parkas over eveningwear.
To really embrace this trend, avoid wearing yours with anything too casual or sporty. Instead, copy the catwalks and throw it over your most glittering gowns or use as a contrast to your tailoring.
Fabulous fringing
Fringing is always around in some form or another but this season, the detail was inescapable, seen in the collections of almost every major brand.
It was given the metallic treatment at Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney and Burberry, while it adorned flapper dresses at Fendi and gave a boho finish to pieces at Michael Kors and Isabel Marant. At Chanel, it was the detail on almost every jacket, sometines just subtle on hems and in other pieces, it was stealing the spotlight. Maria Grazia Chiuri embraced it big time at Dior, showing it over leotards and on accessories, while Ralph Lauren made it romantic and 16Arlington and Bottega went all out with colour.
Often sidelined for the festive or festival seasons, we suggest bringing fringing into your everyday wardrobe this summer. Pair a fringed skirt with a chic white shirt and sandals for the office, or embrace the detail on beautiful dresses for your next event.
Skirted trousers
It's the Y2K trend that has been gaining traction for the last few seasons, and remains the easiest styling trick for bringing your wardrobe right up to date – layering up skirts or dresses over your trousers.
This season, it got a bit of an officewear upgrade – we saw lots of layered tailoring at Roksanda, Tove and Ami Paris, where the designers presented pleated skirts or long tunics over tailored trousers. Meanwhile, Bottega Veneta created a skirt-shorts-trouser hybrid, sending it down the catwalk it in a number of colourways, teamed with crisp shirts. At The Row and Alaïa, it was a little more casual, while Khaite gave it an eveningwear spin, styling long sheer dresses over sheer trousers.
Of course, the easiest way to nail the trend is just to layer up a skirt or dress over your trousers, but there are also plenty of hybrid creations to invest in too, which make getting dressed even easier and avoid the potential bulkiness of doubling up.
Romantic ruffles
It seems that nobody could resist a little romance this season – and not just in the pink and red colour palette that dominated the catwalks. Designers across all four cities embraced delicate romantic ruffles in their collections, some in the form of light finishing touches and others going all out.
Those who went full Valentine's Day included Simone Rocha, Roksanda and Nensi Dojaka with their pink ruffled gowns, while almost every piece in Alessandro Michele's Valentino collection included at least a ruffle or two. Tory Burch did it on shirts and leather dresses, Alaïa added it to peplum hems and McQueen gave checked tailoring a ladylike touch with a white ruffle trim.
An easy and fun trend to adopt into your summer wardrobe, we suggest investing in a flirty ruffled skirt or dress for your next holiday or a beautiful blouse for the office.
The elevated flip flop
Fashion's simplest sandal was the shoe of the season with the humble flip flop cropping up again and again across the collections in various forms.
Of course, the style has been making headlines of late with The Row's new Dune red rubber flip flop retailing at £670, which has been criticised by those not in the know for its simplicity. In its SS25 lookbook, the shoe was styled with a lace dress over jeans and a grey knit, and was perfection.
On the catwalk meanwhile, the simple shoe also had pride of place in a number of collections, including in flat leather form at Issey Miyake, in heeled jelly plastics at Chloé and in both flat and block-heeled versions at Miu Miu. We also saw them teamed with tailored trousers at Simkhai, in platform form at Sportmax and in various colourways at Alaïa.
The message? Dig out your old flip flops and wear them with everything this summer. Or, invest in a chic elevated version for the new season – The Row's Ginza sandal is a classic, and we love a heeled flip flop in any form.
The East-West bag
Another throwback to the Noughties came in the form of a handbag silhouette which dominated the catwalks this past season, the East-West bag. Defined by an elongated horizontal shape, the style also typically has long, thin, structured straps that are usually positioned on the centre of the bag, but designers have been playing around with that strict definition.
Of course, Alaïa's wildly popular Le Teckel has been leading the charge with this trend for the past few seasons, but many of the big fashion houses have also adopted it into their collections, reworking their most iconic styles in skinny horizontal fashion.
Bottega Veneta presented long thin clutches, Gucci gave its cult Bamboo bag an elongated makeover, while Jil Sander presented studded skinny bags, ticking off two trends at once. At Prada and Miu Miu, it was all about that exaggerated rectangular shape with long structured straps, and Versace, Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors all had a go at the silhouette too.
A sunset palette
This season's catwalks were awash with the most beautiful pinks, reds, oranges and yellows, providing us with a supremely hopeful palette of sunset colours to see us through the summer.
The hues were everywhere – yellows dominated at McQueen, Chloé, 16Arlington and Bottega Veneta, while Chanel, Miu Miu and Jil Sander made a case for pink. Red was probably, once again, the biggest colour trend of the season – we saw it at Gucci, Carolina Herrera, Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, while we got our orange fix from the collections of Alberta Ferretti and Simkhai.
Our advice? Don't be afraid to stick with just one – and make sure to inject a little sunshine into every look you wear over the coming months.
A nautical moment
It was all about sailor stripes, while blues and whites dominated in a big nod to nautical fashion for spring/summer 2025. A trend that comes back around every now and then, there are plenty of ways to tap into it, whether you do it with a simple Breton and jeans, or embrace it with rope belts, head-to-toe stripes and sailor hats.
Really going for it this season was Moschino who sent a full sailor look down the catwalk, complete with a statement white hat. Meanwhile, Dior, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger embraced that classic blue and white, and Louis Vuitton, Prada and Proenza Schouler went for it with stripes.
An easy way to tap into the trend is with a great boat shoe, which Miu Miu has nailed for the new season, while a classic blue-and-white Breton will go with everything in your wardrobe and will never go out of style.
The school skirt
The teeny, tiny mini skirt has been trending for a few seasons now, but for SS25, this separate grew up, well kind of. Across the catwalks, we saw pleated skirts dominate in shades of navy and grey, reminding us of our school uniforms, just with an elevated twist.
Always at the forefront of these trends, Miuccia made the school skirt the centre of both Prada and Miu Miu's collections – it was styled with leotards and legwarmers or matching grey blazers. Vivienne Westwood presented a pleated skirt in plaid, Bottega Veneta and Lacoste styled them over trousers, while Chanel gave it a pastel lemon spin.
Whether you want to go short or midi, this is a great investment for your forever wardrobe, especially if you choose a neutral colour. For day, wear it in full school uniform mode with a crisp white shirt and blazer (and even a tie), and then bring it into the evening with a sporty leotard and a fun heel a la Miu Miu.
