As global political tides shift toward populism, Paris Men’s Fashion Week Fall-Winter 2025 emerged not merely as a display of aesthetics but as a battleground for ideology. Against the backdrop of France’s surging far-right sentiment and post-Trump inauguration tensions, designers wielded needle and thread as tools of dissent, transforming runways into platforms for political activism in fashion. From reimagined workwear symbolising labour solidarity to gender-fluid silhouettes challenging archaic norms, the event proved that cloth can be as confrontational as a manifesto.
Workwear Reborn as Protest Armour The utilitarian aesthetic dominated collections, reframing blue-collar symbolism for contemporary discourse. Junya Watanabe’s lumberjack-inspired plaits and raw denim paid homage to forestry workers, yet transcended nostalgia. His oversized jackets, spliced with technical fabrics, whispered of resilience amid climate crises – a sartorial nod to those labouring on nature’s frontlines. Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton’s Pharrell Williams and Nigo fused chef whites with indigo denim, crafting a hybrid uniform for modern polymaths. “Workwear isn’t about nostalgia,” noted Vogue Runway’s Luke Leitch. “It’s armour for the precarious gig economy generation.”
At Sacai, Chitose Abe’s cocoon-shaped knits, collaboration with Carhartt, merged wilderness survivalism with urban pragmatism. Models swaddled in shearling and parachute silk evoked both refuge and mobility – a metaphor for displaced communities worldwide. This workwear revival trend, far from mere retro fetishism, reframed functionality as a language of resistance, celebrating hands that build and rebuild.
Catwalks as Political Pulpits Designers eschewed subtlety, deploying garments as manifestos. Willy Chavarria’s Paris debut, staged in a neo-Gothic cathedral, featured gold brocade tailoring on models of diverse ethnicities and body types – a deliberate counter to homogenised beauty standards. “Fashion must scream when rights are silenced,” Chavarria told CNN, referencing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and migrant crises. His burgundy trench coats, cinched at the waist, echoed the silhouettes of protest march banners, fluid yet unyielding.
EgonLab’s gender-fluid ensembles – Victorian ruffles paired with deconstructed motorcycle gear – subverted traditional masculinity. “Clothes are skin without borders,” designers Florentin Glémarec and Kevin Nompeix asserted backstage, critiquing France’s hardening stance on immigration. Their knotted shirting and asymmetrical suiting mirrored societal fractures, while metallic threadwork suggested unity forged through friction.
Rei Kawakubo’s Comme des Garçons Homme Plus collection, “To Hell With War,” weaponised irony. Models trudged in mud-splattered combat boots, helmets sprouting hydrangeas – a nod to 1960s flower power. By juxtaposing military austerity with botanical fragility, Kawakubo questioned the very anatomy of conflict. “It’s fashion’s Guernica,” remarked BoF’s Tim Blanks, “where carnations bloom from rifle barrels.”
Craftsmanship as Quiet Rebellion Amidst the clamour, some designers spoke through meticulous construction. Bianca Saunders, the first Black British designer to claim the ANDAM prize, presented twisted seams and knotted ankles in her tailored trousers – a physicalisation of “the strain between constraint and freedom.” Inspired by Robert Longo’s contorted figures, her crumpled shirting captured the ache of bodies navigating systemic rigidity.
Rick Owens’ Palais de Tokyo showcase married brutality and delicacy. “Megacrust” jeans, encrusted with bronze foil, evoked volcanic strata, while kemp fibre jackets – crafted from discarded animal hair – championed sustainability without sanctimony. “Luxury isn’t polish; it’s integrity,” Owens post-show tweet declared, lambasting fast fashion’s ethical vacuum.
Dior Homme’s cinematic homage to Christian Dior’s controversial 1954 H-line – a silhouette deemed “unfeminine” – recontextualised androgyny. Models with gilded eye masks paraded billowing skirts and opera coats, their obscured gazes challenging viewers to see beyond gendered binaries. Creative director Kim Jones cited Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut as inspiration: “True vision begins when societal blindfolds drop.”
Threads of Global Solidarity Beyond aesthetics, the event spotlighted fashion’s evolving role in geopolitical discourse. Charles Jeffrey Loverboy’s Weimar Cabaret-inspired show, replete with banana-shaped codpieces and deconstructed kilts, resurrected Berlin’s queer resistance spirit. “We’re a multitude they can’t legislate away,” Jeffrey asserted, referencing global anti-trans policies. His peeling knitwear, revealing layers beneath, metaphorised resilience through vulnerability.
Meanwhile, emerging Tunisian label Zyne showcased boots embroidered with Amazigh motifs, their artisanship funding female cooperatives in North Africa. “Every stitch is a stand against cultural erasure,” co-founder Zyne Labidi noted, tying craft to post-Arab Spring identity politics.
Fashion’s Fragile Power Yet critics question whether such gestures transcend the catwalk. “Protest chic risks reducing activism to aesthetics,” cautioned Les Inrockuptibles’ Carole Boinet. When a €3,000 jacket references migrant struggles, who does it truly serve? The challenge lies in ensuring symbolism sparks tangible change – whether through supply chain reforms, as seen in Chloé’s B Corp-certified knitwear, or via partnerships like EgonLab’s donations to LGBTQ+ shelters.
As Paris’s cobblestones echoed with final applause, the message resonated: fashion, at its zenith, isn’t escape but engagement – a mirror held to society’s fractures, demanding we not just look, but see. In an era where politics permeates every pore, the needle’s thread may yet mend what words alone cannot.
