A new generation of London designers has made its mark in Paris, blending storytelling, sustainability, and subversion on the runway
Peruvian fish scales clinging to posthuman armour, a Soviet bandit dancing in organza and grunge, and second-skin latex playing with bubbles and exploring the universe. This is not just fashion; it’s a collision of culture, memory, and transformation. From folklore to futurism, from trauma to seduction, ten emerging London fashion designers reimagine identity on the Paris runway 2025 through silhouettes, textures, and radical storytelling. Welcome to the new wave of fashion—raw, romantic, and unapologetically human.
Inside Synergetic: Istituto Marangoni’s 2025 Graduate Fashion Show
The runways are still sizzling from the Paris heatwave, but it wasn’t just the weather that turned up the temperature; it was the talented Fashion Design students from Istituto Marangoni making their mark in the French capital. Hosted at the Palais de Tokyo, Synergetic was a cross-campus fashion show that celebrated the collaborative spirit of Istituto Marangoni’s European outposts in London and Paris, spotlighting the London campus as a leader in raw talent and sartorial innovation.
With a distinct London rhythm and a bold edge, ten emerging designers presented fearless creativity, expert pattern-making skills, and a touch of that signature British attitude. In ethos and spirit, they echoed the genius of Alexander McQueen, who, even before his untimely passing in 2010, predicted: “It’s about a new era in fashion: there are no rules.”
Details from Paris Fashion Show 2025 backstage
The Bold Vision of London’s Rising Fashion Stars
When the runway lights flash, everything happens in seconds, but the magic lies in the details. Behind every swift strut are hours of craftsmanship, vision, and individuality. That’s why we’re stepping off the catwalk to focus on the imaginative and highly skilled work of our fashion students in London.
As McQueen once said, “It’s all about the individual and personal style, wearing high-end, low-end, classic labels and up-and-coming designers together.” Ten distinctive young voices from around the world came together in London to showcase just that: personal style that is confidently bold and brilliantly executed, culminating in a stunning debut on the Paris runway.
Snapshot from the setting of the runaway held at Palais de Tokyo in Paris
Showcasing Synergetic: 10 Emerging London Designers on the Paris Runway
Meet the ten visionary emerging London designers from Istituto Marangoni who have just redefined fashion in Paris. Each designer showcases unique perspectives and masterful craftsmanship, blending tradition with innovation to push boundaries and tell powerful stories through their graduate collections: Anna Sheremetyeva, Sofiia Kovalska, Gaye Sahutogullari, Micaela Ismodes Sole, Henry Archibald Crawford, Thierry Nicolas Rüetschi, Charlene Osmond, Sofia Rukina, Jinxuan Mao, and Aniket Chandela.
Anna Sheremetyeva
Collcetion: Metamorphosis
Style: Punk grunge Avant-garde
Skill: Recycled materials manipulation and handcraft
Core: Personal emotional transformation
Anna Sheremetyeva is an emerging fashion designer from Siberia, Russia, who fuses fashion, fine art, and raw emotional storytelling. Her graduate collection, titled “Metamorphosis”, is a deeply personal exploration of transformation, inspired by her journey overcoming health challenges.
The collection showcases a blend of punk and grunge aesthetics, featuring distressed denim, sheer organza, and tactile knitwear. Cocoon-like silhouettes and fragmented textures reflect themes of fragility and rebirth, grounded in dark tones with bruised purple accents. With 60% of the collection made from recycled materials—including upcycled garments and hand-assembled patchwork—it stands as an authentic example of avant-garde sustainable fashion. It’s a striking expression of pain, healing, and selfhood on the catwalk.
Highlights from Anna Sheremetyeva's Metamorphosis collection
Sofia Kovalska
Collection: Mavka and Molfar
Style: Contemporary flow, adaptable design
Skill: Waving, Sustainable fashion design
Core: Ukrainian folklore
Sofia Kovalska, originally from Ukraine, explores the boundary between the mortal and spiritual realms through her collection Mavka and Molfar. Drawing on Ukrainian folklore, she reimagines the mystical figures of the forest nymphs and Carpathian shamans with a modern twist.
Bold silhouettes, including flowing dresses, skirts, and oversized coats, are crafted using zero-waste garment construction, weaving vibrant cotton jersey stripes and chunky yarns inspired by traditional costumes. Kovalska’s use of rectangular patterning honours ancient methods while promoting sustainability. The result is a powerful, adaptable collection that celebrates movement, spirituality, and the richness of contemporary cultural fashion.
Highlights from Sofia Kovalska's Mavka and Molfar collection
Charlene Osmond
Collection: Defining Seduction
Style: Dramatic sensual feminine
Skill: Draping silhouettes, textile experimentation
Core: Emotional storytelling
Indonesian fashion designer Charlene Osmond infuses her graduate collection, “Defining Seduction,” with emotional storytelling and sensuality. Inspired by films, icons, and fleeting moments from the 1950s to the 1970s, her work offers a modern and dramatic reinterpretation of Western feminine allure.
The collection plays with contrast and tension, featuring fluid yet structured silhouettes, such as a sculpted skirt reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe’s iconic image, and coffee-dyed tulle from a happy accident. A sheer lace coat fused with PVC and feathers, and brass waste hand-stitched onto tulle, reflect themes of beauty, memory, and decay. Each piece both reveals and conceals, capturing seduction as a blend of performance and emotion through bold, evocative design.
Highlights from Charlene Osmond's Defining Seduction collection
Gaye Sahutogullari
Collection: Brutal Romantic
Skill: Latex is manipulation
Core: Vulnerability and transformation
Gaye Sahutoğulları, hailing from Turkey, centres her work on materiality, texture, and emotional resonance. Her collection, titled “Identity,” explores the concept of memento mori through biomorphic silhouettes crafted from hand-moulded latex—a second skin that clings to the body, revealing vulnerability and transformation.
Drawing on themes of bodily decay and memory, her experimental fashion design incorporates embedded synthetic hair, hand-applied tattoos, and layered latex textures resembling snake skin. The colour palette features flesh tones, curved decals, and eyespot motifs, all evoking ideas of metamorphosis and personal mythology. By fusing innovative materials with intimate storytelling, this emerging Turkish fashion designer presents a “brutal romantic” vision that transforms decay into beauty and the body into a living archive.
Highlights from Gaye Sahutogullari's Brutal Romantic collection
Jinxuan Mao
Collection: Echoes of Innocence
Style: Playful volume & distorted tailoring
Skill: Textiles experimentation
Core: Innocence, vulnerability and strength
Chinese designer Jinxuan Mao blends material experimentation with emotional depth in her womenswear collection, “Echoes of Innocence.” Exploring how adults subconsciously revert to childlike states under stress, she crafts garments that strike a balance between playfulness and psychological tension. Voluminous silhouettes, distorted tailoring, and gradient-dyed prints reflect feelings of nostalgia and fragility.
Soft textures, such as scrunched organza and bubble-like fabrics, evoke childhood memories, while embroidery and sculptural detailing draw from surrealist art. Inspired by artists like Edvard Munch and Johnson Tsang, the collection tells gentle, introspective stories through tactile design. Jinxuan invites wearers to embrace vulnerability, resilience, and emotional truth through garments that comfort, express, and create connections.
Highlights from Jinxuan Mao's Echoes of Innocence collection
Sofia Rukina
Collection: Bandit 90’s
Style: Post-Soviet luxury streetwear
Skill: Experimental menswear
Core: Power and vulnerability statement
Russian emerging fashion designer Sofia Rukina brings a bold, textured vision to menswear through her collection “Bandit 90’s”, inspired by the chaotic power dynamics of post-Soviet criminal subcultures. By fusing history, rebellion, and luxury streetwear, the collection blends oversized silhouettes with experimental materials like spray-painted leather, towelling, and heat-manipulated surfaces.
Rich reds, deep blues, and forest greens evoke a sense of urban grit and authority, grounding the collection in visual cohesion. With her background in psychology and philosophy, Sofia explores the duality of power and vulnerability, creating garments that both provoke thought and empower the wearer. “Bandit 90’s” is both a personal and political statement—raw, unapologetic, and visually striking.
Highlights from Sofia Rukina's Bandit 90’s collection
Thierry Nicolas Rüetschi
Collection: New Renaissance
Style: Modern Renaissance
Skills Architectural & Sculptural manipulation
Core: Futuristic Resilience
Swiss designer Thierry Rüetschi crafts sculptural, emotionally charged fashion driven by a passion for inventive pattern cutting and intuitive draping. His collection, titled “New Renaissance,” merges classical inspiration with futuristic vision, exploring themes of strength, protection, and rebirth.
The architectural silhouettes, formed from interwoven denim, cork, and tarpaulin, evoke modern armour, while lighter fabrics like poplin add movement and softness. Drawing inspiration from Roman heritage and Renaissance anatomy, the garments expand proportions and celebrate the body’s natural power. Earthy tones contrast with flashes of silver, reflecting a post-apocalyptic yet hopeful world. Thierry’s work empowers wearers through structure, storytelling, and a fearless embrace of transformation.
Highlights from Thierry Nicolas Rüetschi's New Renaissance collection
Aniket Chandela
Collection: Vishnu ki Virasat
Style: Contemporary Heritage
Skill: Luxury Embroidery
Core: Mythology by Storytelling
Indian designer Aniket Chandela brings heritage and innovation into elegant harmony with his collection, “Vishnu ki Virasat”. Inspired by the ten avatars of the Hindu deity Vishnu, each piece channels mythological symbolism through luxurious fabrics, refined silhouettes, and intricate hand-embroidery.
Tailored suits, bomber jackets, and flowing coats crafted in satin, silk crepe, and crepe twill merge traditional craftsmanship with contemporary form. A vibrant palette of deep blues, golds, and whites reflects each avatar’s essence, while Zari, zardozi, and cut dana embellishments honour India’s artisanal legacy. Chandela’s work is a living tribute to cultural storytelling, where ancient narratives meet modern fashion with grace and intention.
Highlights from Aniket Chandela's Vishnu ki Virasat collection
Micaela Ismodes Sole
Collection: Redrum
Style: Ghostly romantic
Skill: Experimental draping
Core: Peruvian fish scales embellishments
Peruvian designer Micaela Ismodes Sole merges eerie beauty with romantic darkness in her collection, “Redrum”. Inspired by horror films and unsettling femininity, the collection features ghostly silhouettes with corsets, puff sleeves, and sheer draping, all crafted from tulle, lace, satin, and contrasting leathers.
Orchid prints and haunting textures, including sustainably reused Paiche fish scales, offer a biodegradable alternative to synthetic embellishments. A colour palette of blood red, black, ballet pink and antique white reflects a dreamlike balance between softness and unease. Rooted in storytelling, identity, and visual moodboarding, Micaela’s process celebrates both fragility and power, creating garments that are delicate, dramatic, and disturbingly beautiful.
Highlights from Micaela Ismodes Sole's Redrum collection
Henry Archibald Crawford
Collection: A Third Traveler
Style: Maximalism design, conceptual and minimalism details
Skill: Scuptural patten cutting construction, craftmanship
Core: Metaphysics, existential elegance
British up-and-coming fashion designer Henry Archibald Crawford brings a cerebral edge to fashion, shaped by his background in physics and a fascination with metaphysics, existentialism, and sci-fi cinema. His collection, “A Third Traveler,” is inspired by the Fermi Paradox, which poses the question of humanity’s solitude in the cosmos.
The collection features structured, dramatic silhouettes that orbit the body like distant planets, crafted from heavyweight materials such as suede, wool, and neoprene. Wire cages and nude corsetry evoke weightlessness and vulnerability, exploring isolation in a vast universe. Crawford blends architectural volume with traditional tailoring, creating a haunting balance of logic and emotion. The result is fashion that embodies cosmic philosophy—lonely, layered, and deeply human.
For his commitment, dedication and technicality fused with an intellectual vision for fashion design, Henry Archibald Crawford was awarded the title of Designer of the Year 2025 from Istituto Marangoni London.
As noted by Stelios Geros, Programme Leader of Fashion Design at Istituto Marangoni London, Crawford remained focused throughout the creation of extended coursettes. He continually experimented and pushed techniques to their limits, resulting in a collection marked by versatility and adaptability. The entire collection was executed to an exceptionally high professional standard.
Highlights from Henry Archibald Crawford's A Third Traveler collection
Why Istituto Marangoni’s Graduates Are Redefining the Fashion Standard
Sarah Mower put it plainly: “It is very hard these days to create something fresh, relevant, and desirable—because it might be fresh and innovative, but that doesn’t necessarily mean people will like it.” And yet, the emerging designers from Istituto Marangoni have done just that. Their 2025 graduate collections showcase not only creativity and technical mastery but also a keen understanding of what resonates with today’s fashion audience. By redefining the boundaries of contemporary design on the Paris runway, these talents prove that innovation can indeed captivate, inspire, and shape the future of fashion.
Silvia De Vecchi
Librarian, London