THE HYPE FASHION / WINTER 2025/26
Trend
FAKING IT
There’s one trend we can never escape: When temperatures drop, fur coats come out of storage. Fortunately, there’s long been a consensus regarding the authenticity of fur: Fake is fantastic—we don’t want to be lugging around dead animals. That said, a few fashion houses have indeed brought real fur back into the fold, a development we’re watching with concern. But the selection of great faux fur coats in every imaginable color, shape, and pattern presents us with a new challenge. Polyester isn’t exactly harmless either. So here’s the rule: It’s better to pick a favorite piece and wear it until science comes up with sustainable, biodegradable faux fur. We believe that will eventually become the norm.
It-Piece
MICROMALISTIC
Cell phone, wallet, lip gloss, lipstick, lip oil, snacks, sunglasses, collectible figurines, gum… That’s pretty much what’s inside our handbags. To pull off those cute micro-purses that are popping up everywhere right now, you’ll need a crash course in minimalism—because they only have room for the absolute essentials. Life hack for the maximalists among us: You could hang that tiny little purse from your big bag as a bag charm.
Liebling
BOW-TIFUL
The best designs come about by chance. In 1978, Fiamma Ferragamo, Salvatore Ferragamo’s eldest daughter, created a signature detail with a small bow—a feature that remains deeply rooted in the Italian brand to this day. The iconic Vara bow was once just an improvised detail made of grosgrain. Thanks to a misunderstanding, it was also crafted from rep ribbon on the final product instead of leather, as originally intended. To this day, the Vara bow can be found everywhere. New shapes, heel heights, or colors may be added, but the Vara bow remains the same. Campaign faces ranging from model and activist Paloma Elsesser to K-pop star Hyeri Lee and model Bianca Balti show that the shoe is as diverse as the women who wear it.
We Love
WINTER IS COMING
Inspiration for a collection can come from anywhere. From jellyfish and parachutes, for example. It sounds stranger than it is. Oakley’s winter pieces, like the Latitude Soar Parka, shimmer translucently like a jellyfish and are as light and strong as a parachute. In other ways, too, Oakley is all about nature and science. Drawstrings allow the pieces to be adjusted to fit the body, reflective logos improve visibility, and even the zipper is waterproof. But the most important difference from conventional functional clothing is this: Oakley’s designs are stylish and forward-thinking. When you’re decked out in full Oakley gear and look like you’ve accidentally landed on our planet from a distant fashion planet, it’ll get even us out into the cold—even when the temperature is below freezing.
Campaign
SPECTACLE
“Scene 1, Room 6, a highway motel, the sweltering end of a summer day.” We may be in the middle of winter, but that doesn’t matter to the creativity of a film script. Newcomer Luna Carmoon has envisioned just such a sultry motel in the middle of nowhere for her Versace campaign. Together with the creative duo Blommers & Schumm, she tells the story with some of the most exciting faces from the worlds of art and pop culture: actors Aimee Lou Wood and Joseph Quinn, DJ and producer Josh Caffé, composer Ouri, bodybuilder Wesley Glouchkov, and chef Giovanni Luciano. With all this star power, it’s easy to forget that the focus is on a pair of glasses. But perhaps that’s exactly the point: the Greca model looks fabulous on every face.
Book
CINEMATIC COUTURE
Sensitive, feminine, and a thousand times more complex than most men could ever be: these are the female characters Sofia Coppola has been bringing to the screen for decades with her unmistakable style. At the tender age of 15—right in the midst of the miserable teenage years that her protagonists, from “The Virgin Suicides” to “Priscilla,” have to endure—the director wasn’t writing screenplays just yet; instead, she completed a summer internship at Chanel’s Creation Studio in Paris. Although she eventually found her way to the director’s chair, her connection to fashion has remained. Now Coppola has once again channeled her passion for collage and visual storytelling into a book. In *Chanel Haute Couture*, she explores the house’s haute couture across 450 pages. From Gabrielle Chanel to Karl Lagerfeld to Virginie Viard, and from iconic models and looks to photographers, a piece of history lies between the book’s golden covers.
Sofia Coppola (ed.), “Chanel Haute Couture,” Éditions 7L, Important Flowers, MACK, 450 pages, approx. 100.—, chanel.com, mackbooks.eu, librairie7l.com
Collaboration
CONFIDENT & COZY
Is lingerie a risky or appropriate gift? And do you really have to wear red lingerie on New Year’s Eve? There are quite a few myths surrounding what we wear underneath. Actress and TV host Palina Rojinski shows with her collection for Triumph that all kinds of colors and styles look great. It’s best to choose the ones that make you feel most comfortable. For anyone still debating whether the collection makes a good Christmas gift: How about simply treating yourself to a few new looks to wear underneath?
