The menswear fashion week presentations last month showed that clothes can indeed help boost one’s mood. Watching the Spring/Summer 2025 runways, you can’t help feeling just a little happier – especially with all the bright colours, plus the razzle dazzle of opulent fabrics. Dopamine dressing (a trend based on the belief that what you wear is capable of positively affecting your mood) has been around for a couple of years, but this time, it feels a lot less forced.
Unlike in 2022, the year after the full lifting of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, the key message of optimism is subtle – although Louis Vuitton’s recent runway did take over the Unesco headquarters in Paris, calling for a “unified world”. Even Dries Van Noten’s swansong show (pictured on the cover) proved to be a cheerful occasion. It was no weepy retirement party for the designer.
“Tonight is many things, but it is not a grand finale,” Van Noten stated in his show notes. Instead, it was a celebration for him. A giant disco ball emerged at the end, where he then took his exit walk to the euphoric sounds of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love.
Similarly, trends of the season embodied lightheartedness. Vibrant shades, glittering fabrics, eye-catching prints, striking graphics and easy breezy silhouettes mark Spring/Summer 2025 as a period of good cheer – at least in the fashion world, that is. Read more: Dries Van Noten's swan song fashion show in Paris a dazzling affair Pops of pink It was last year.
