Femininity Is Not a Set of Instructions
Review of Collina Strada Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Undefined femininity. Defiant individuality. Chaotic chic.
Few brands would rewrite and remix Enya’s “Only Time” featuring their own slogan for their runway show soundtrack – but few brands are like Collina Strada. As the ethereal waves of the iconic new-wave anthem ethereally washed over the audience only for the beat to drop, the brand’s most effective statement of feminine freedom yet took to the runway.
The collection checked all the boxes we’ve come to expect from Collina: chaotically playful prints and plaids, big volumes, plenty of ruffles, club-ready layering. But the collection’s strongest element came as the brand dug deeper into its emphasis on sustainability and its theme of revisiting girlhood dress-up and play: creative director Hillary Taymour and her team scoured thrift stores in New Jersey and transformed heirloom wedding dresses into their own take on couture. At once an homage to the women who have come before and a call to imagine a more creatively sustainable future, these revitalized dresses were the kind of brilliant addition to the brand’s world that help us see the artistry and intent of its work that much more clearly.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
Femininity is not a set of instructions. It’s a mess of beautiful contradiction – fierce and soft, dark and illuminating, private and protective, unapologetically visible and glam. Claim your space as a way to make room for others.”
THE WRAP UP
It will be interesting and exciting to see how Collina Strada will incorporate the couture-like upcycling practice moving forward – whether it’s something that can actually translate into production or is just a runway show one-off. Who can say where Collina Strada’s road goes? Only time. Either way, it still feels like an important moment of growth for the brand, bringing its values and vision clearly into focus. Collina Strada is defiantly, unmistakably itself, and inspires us to be the same.
