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Very Demure, Very Mindful: Sneak peek of 2025 Spring Fashion Week

Soyul Bae

What exactly is demure? Demure refers to a reserved, modest, and shy person, typically women. But Demure might not be just a passing trend. For Spring 2025 Fashion Week collections, many brands offered ladylike alternatives to the flashy and revealing clothes that have escalated in recent years. In addition to footwear like low-heeled pumps with sensible box toes, modesty was evident in the various ways that companies interpreted floppy bow blouses and nightgown dresses with Victorian accents like ruffled collars

Simbarashe Cha/The New York Times

The word "demure" was the only word that could be tied with this lady-like concept on the catwalks, which has recently become very popular. There were several bubble trousers, flight suits, and preppy-style blazers on the runways, so this wasn't the only major trend. 


Why is demure such a big deal anyways? Where did this even come from? It all started when TikTok video went viral in August for its aesthetic counterpoint to the untidy chaos of this year’s “brat summer”, which was a continuation of the sleazy chaos that defined the look of the “hot vax summer” of 2021. “Brat summer” is a Gen Z term used to encourage enjoying life as much as you can in spite of the struggles you might be facing. As you can see, “Demure” is quite the opposite from this concept.

Photo from the Simons Voice      Photo from Barrie 360


As the trend passed from “brat summer” to “demure”, so did fashion. From the bold outfits to a polite and cultivated look. From the tallest high heels to tiniest low-heeled shoes. The change was big. But demure.


The style reporter Callie Holterman stated “It’s tucking your hair behind your ear. It’s a Peter Pan collar. It’s nibbling on some raspberries!” The Prada show in Milan presented both criterias: Peter Pan collar jacket and models with hair tucked behind their ears. How demure.


According to designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, the brand's most recent collection, which also included structured bags and minimal cosmetics, was a critique of social media algorithms. They played straight into one by combining elements of the demure formula. Even so, their designs appeared to speak to a broader discourse, even though designers had already started working on their most recent collections by the time the discussion of anything demure reached a turning point.


Additionally, the fact that fashion from the Spring 2025 collections won't be available for purchase until the beginning of next year raises the possibility that the understated style represented by the six runway trends below will last longer than other fads. Hence, making these brands, very Demure, very mindful.


Let’s have a sneak peek into 2025 Spring Fashion Week.

Spring 2025 looks from Bottega Veneta, Jil Sander (The New York Times)
Spring 2025 looks from Coperni and N21 (The New York Times)
Spring 2025 looks from Gucci, Marni (The New York Times)




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