PFW: The Element Of Surprise At Christopher Esber Fall/Winter 2025

Christopher Esber Fall/Winter 2025 / All images: supplied Since debuting on the Paris Fashion Week schedule in 2023 and winning the coveted ANDAM Award in 2024, all eyes have been on Christopher Esber. Now, for his third show in the fashion capital, the Australian designer moves forward with a collection full of playful tensions and a sensorial feast of textures. Showing again at Palais de Tokyo, the Fall/Winter 2025 vision was a study in duality—opulence and refinement, structure and fluidity, the concealed and the revealed. In a collection that managed to seamlessly weave together flamenco influences, ornate craftsmanship, and the quiet grandeur and character of aged interiors into one cohesive direction, Esber delivered a masterclass in modern decadence. French ateliers played a pivotal role in this season’s development, crafting custom textiles and intricate embellishments that elevated everyday materials to couture-level constructions. Corduroy—typically informal and utilitarian—was transformed, its density imbued with an opulent sheen, while hand-stitched silk rouleau mimicked its familiar rows, a delicate trompe-l’œil effect. Elsewhere, fabrics echoed lived-in upholstery, with velvet and brocade panelling lending garments a timeworn allure. Fluidity and control coexisted as a major theme throughout. Weighted fabrics, from heavy twills to fine jerseys, were gathered and sculpted around the body, while belts propped up trousers of exaggerated proportions and draped waistlines. Skirts, layered in ruffled tiers with tassels, reinterpreted flamenco silhouettes with a contemporary lens. Dresses are the bread and butter of Esber’s commercial appeal, and this season, they push boundaries, mingling architectural intrigue with delicate detailing—his signature interplay of form and freedom. Column dresses, reminiscent of the 1920s, floated around the body, their movement juxtaposed by intricate shibari knots. Elsewhere, upholstery cords were wrapped and intertwined around torsos, their unexpected placement evoking a more sensual take on bondage aesthetics. The palette, something Esber nails with every collection, was equally poised between richness and lightness—deep navy, maroon, and liquorice leather were buoyed by marigold, muted cobalt, and wallpaper-style prints. Tortoiseshell, printed on georgette and transformed into resin droplets, added a textural surprise that punctuated a collection full of the unexpected. MFW: The Top 16 Fashion Trends Spotted at Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2025 Louis Vuitton Set To Launch Beauty Range With Dame Pat McGrath PFW: At Dior, a Dash of Eyeliner & Luminous Skin Symbolized Freedom of Expression & Feminist Perseverance PFW: A Stitch In Time At Dior Fall/Winter 2025 Meghan Markle Reveals She Has Officially Changed Her Famous Last Name All The Best Looks From The 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Red Carpet

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