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Can Fashion Help Us Make Order Out of Chaos?

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Can Fashion Help Us Make Order Out of Chaos?

Like plenty of people these days, Mrs. Prada and Raf Simons blame the algorithm. The Spring 2025 show, titled “Infinite Present,” was inspired by the amounts of information we are bombarded with at all times. Or, as they put it in the show notes, “Our consumption of the infinite panorama offered by the Internet is driven by algorithms, finite sequences of instructions that circumscribe the decidable through logic in a fundamentally illogical world.”

The collection was intended not as a critique but as a discourse—an alternative reality to the ones we hold in the palms of our hands. Often at Prada, you’ll see the same skirt on the runway a handful of times, styled differently or in a new color. But this time, all 49 looks that came down the runway were different. These were individual looks, made for individual people.

Ironically, the algorithm has been obsessed with people discussing personal style—the idea that your look should be uniquely you—for years now. But the idea behind the show, which designers have also been trying to tackle for many seasons, was less interesting than the clothing itself. There were large bug-eye sunglasses worn over bandanas like a high fashion iteration of a superhero’s mask, visor brim hats clearly inspired by the ‘60s, low-rise pleated skirts with metal links attaching to a leather belt worn on the bellybutton a la Carrie Bradshaw that one time, and porthole metallic skirts that felt pulled from the space age.

Even if the designers were suggesting this vision was something new, they clearly can’t help but continuously reference themselves and all that’s come before them. Maybe that’s what they meant about challenging the algorithm. It’s far more interesting to dress not just for yourself but in a way that shows you’ve done your research and know your references.

If Prada’s woman this season was a space race-era superhero who looks like she could star in Sex And The City, Max Mara’s was a mathematician with a yen for smart and simple sportswear. The Spring 2025 collection was inspired by Hypatia, a Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who was a prominent thinker around 370 AD in Alexandria, Egypt.

Earlier in the week, Del Core was inspired by the idea of a scientist. Clearly, designers are looking to those who can create order out of chaos in a world that feels increasingly tumultuous. The result is clean clothing that can’t tune it all out, but can at least make you feel somewhat in control. Max Mara’s iteration featured classic flat sandals, a palette of cream, black, and brown, and plenty of new ways to wear a crisp button-down shirt.

At Gucci, Sabato de Sarno looked to Jackie O. as his muse, although there were no pill-box hats. Instead, it appears her vacation looks from her time in Capri were on the moodboard. (Sarno himself said his vacation this summer in Formentera was on his mind.) Models wore big sunglasses, printed headscarves, and little shift dresses.

The new Gucci vibe is effortlessly chic and chill, and this collection felt like the closest Sarno has come to nailing his proposed vision. If anything can bring back the infamous Gucci monogram belt, it’s the final five looks, in which models wore loose trousers styled with trench coats so long they were trailing on the floor. These are sure to be the styles Gucci girls like Devon Lee Carlson and Daisy Edgar Allen Jones will be wearing, and the ones fashion fangirls will be obsessing over.

At Moschino, Adrian Appiolaza’s references seem aimed at those same fashion fans. For three seasons now, he’s remained true to the brand’s distinct aesthetic—take, for example, an opening draped white look with twisted straps, inspired by a photo of Moschino himself wrapping fabric around a mannequin. In a nod to the brand’s eternal quirk, models carried items like silver kettles and Moschino-branded bottles of laundry detergent. It’s nice to know that there’s still room for the fun you don’t have to overthink.

And there’s no overthinking at Tod’s either, with a breezy and easy collection of eggy yellows and deep greens. With billowing tunics, capes and trenches with a Mediterranean sensibility, everything had the kind of movement worth lusting over.

Headshot of Tara Gonzalez

Tara Gonzalez is the Senior Fashion Editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Previously, she was the style writer at InStyle, founding commerce editor at Glamour, and fashion editor at Coveteur.

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