Jacquemus' romantic over-the-pond walzer

«Let me keep him a little longer, time to adore, to say it, time to create memories,» sang Edith Piaf in 1960 in the song Mon Dieu. In 2025, as the 41 looks of the FW25 collection by Jacquemus parade and immediately disappear in a slow and romantic waltz, that’s exactly what our hearts sing as well. Let us keep them a little longer, or at least give us time to admire every detail of each outfit crafted by Simon Porte Jacquemus, each more poetic, airy, and sumptuous than the last. Yesterday, the young designer proved that it’s not necessary to take a hundred guests to an endless lavender field or under the Capri sun to win them over—an intimate atmosphere buzzing with chatter in an Art Deco Parisian apartment is more than enough. «With this collection, I wanted to bare myself before you, without artifice, just our silhouettes in the intimacy of the Auguste Perret apartment,» so was the announcement of the provençal designer on his Instagram account a few hours before the collection’s presentation. And so was the essence of this fashion show, from the very first steps of the models on the floor of the 16th arrondissement flat to the designer's greetings 40 looks later. 

As the 40 handpicked guests, including a very chatty Carla Bruni and Pamela Anderson, Anna Wintour, Tyla, Central Cee, and Audrey Tautou, patiently waited for the show to begin, a soft tune mechanically evoking the romantic clichés of Montmartre’s streets and its artists began to play, as the first model entered, bringing with her silence and awe. Resembling a runaway bride heading to any port to escape her groom and fate, the model and her simple yet effective white dress set the tone for the collection about to be unveiled before the already captivated eyes of this elite audience. In this FW25, the omnipresent white gradually gives way to black, then briefly reappears through striped, zebra, or polka-dot patterns, occasionally making room for touches of red and yellow to bring a bit of cheerfulness to a collection that, though monochromatic, is far from dull or repetitive.

As the dance progresses, the voluminous ensembles with cinched waists fade away, replaced by lighter pieces with perfect draping, faux crocodile transforms into leather, and menswear resembling outfits worn by sailors ready to set sail with elegance disappear, giving way to long and elegant evening gowns. The accessories, too, are meticulously thought out and adhere to the tacit yet evident dress code of the collection. The Il Turismo bag is offered in various sizes and colors but is particularly adorned with gloves casually placed as if its owner was about to grab them before boarding a ship for a long journey. The entire collection exudes a vintage charm, right down to the gloves and even the Nikes paired with the menswear, creating a contrast between chic and casual, vintage and modernity. If Jacquemus directly evokes the scents and flavors of the South, like the smell of fresh lemon or the background sound of chirping cicadas, he has nevertheless managed to take us beyond France with this collection imbued with travel, but above all, with America.

And for good reason—beyond Edith Piaf and “Mon Dieu,” as he explained after the show, it is precisely America that inspired Simon Porte Jacquemus in the creation of this collection. «I was thinking about opening my stores in New York and Los Angeles,» he said. «And about how Coco Chanel and Christian Dior went to America.» He delved into numerous archives of old French couture salon shows and took inspiration from Marilyn Monroe (hence, probably, the 1950s bullet-bra under the lemon-yellow sweater) in «a back-and-forth between America and France.» Although no information, aside from the statement shared on Instagram by the designer, was revealed before the start of the show, he had fun scattering a few clues here and there on social media over the past few weeks, such as an Erté drawing depicting exactly the asymmetrical silhouette of a black jersey dress, a classic circle skirt paired with a sweater in an Edith Head film costume, or a photo of Peggy Guggenheim dressed by Paul Poiret (whom he credited as inspiration for an animal-print coat).

While Jacquemus has accustomed us to a certain typology of shapes and colors, linen fabrics, and an aesthetic recognizable among all, it can be said that his FW25 collection is gradually moving away from ready-to-wear and inching closer to couture. Yet, this approach of Jacquemus towards a perhaps more mature and measured fashion is not a complete change of direction but rather an affirmation of his ideas and DNA as a whole. While elements reminiscent of the style of designers like Azzedine Alaïa or Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli can be found, this FW25 collection, with its building blocks, circles, triangles, stripes, and polka dots, is quintessentially Jacquemus. After the recent opening of his New York and London boutiques, this collection reflects Jacquemus’s continued expansion, proving that while he masters and embodies the made-in-France aesthetic and his beloved South like no one else, he doesn’t need to limit himself to it to deliver a high-quality collection.