Plumed in Precision
Review of Thom Browne Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Mackenzie Richard
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Surrealist Tailoring & Woodland Whimsy
Amidst a set filled with hundreds of paper birds, Thom Browne’s Fall 2025 collection unfolded like a meditation on transformation, confinement, and surrealist tailoring. The Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 origami cranes symbolizes hope and healing, a poignant motif that subtly anchored the collection’s deeper themes. But in typical Browne fashion, this was not a straightforward display of sentimentality—this was structure subverted, tradition unraveled, and tailoring transformed into theatrical storytelling.
Browne is known for his precise yet off-kilter approach to heritage dressing, and this season was no exception. Oversized coats, sculptural shoulders, and exaggerated silhouettes dominated the runway, playing with scale and distortion in a way that felt both whimsical and unsettling. Bird motifs perched on meticulously tailored windowpane plaids, reinforcing a dialogue between tradition and surrealism.
The color palette embraced rich, autumnal tones that echoed the aesthetic of the British countryside—deep greens, warm browns, and classic tweeds—while punctuated by surprising bursts of color. It was a collection that felt as rooted in classicism as it was in subversion.
This season, Browne achieved something that can often be difficult within his distinct, highly stylized universe—he offered looks that could be broken apart and restyled. While the label’s signature head-to-toe uniform often demands to be worn as a full concept, this collection provided individual pieces that could seamlessly integrate into a broader wardrobe. The intricate tailoring, layered knits, and structured separates made a strong case for both wearability and artistry.
Yet, this was far from a tame interpretation of tradition. Deconstructed suits, voluminous shearling coats, and deliberately distorted silhouettes blurred the lines between academic nostalgia and avant-garde surrealism. The collection referenced prep-school uniforms, schoolboy aesthetics, and collegiate codes, but warped them into something that felt slightly off-kilter—a student lost in a dreamscape, where proportions shift and clothing takes on a life of its own.
Among the most striking themes were the dramatic coats that engulfed the models like wearable sculptures. These trompe-l’œil effects made it seem as though the garments were swallowing the wearer whole, a surrealist trick that challenged ideas of power dressing, authority, and constraint. This contrast between control and chaos, structure and softness, was a defining element throughout.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Thom Browne has always thrived at the intersection of precision and theatricality, and Fall 2025 was no exception. The collection felt like an exploration of freedom within structure—playing with the tension between the tailored and the exaggerated, the conventional and the surreal. The recurring bird motifs and paper crane installation hinted at hope, transformation, and the act of breaking free from constraints, while the architectural coats and layered textures kept the collection grounded in Browne’s signature craftsmanship.
In many ways, this collection was a study in contrasts—between tradition and rebellion, control and liberation, classicism and surrealism. Thom Browne once again proved that fashion can be more than just clothing—it can be a story, a metaphor, a puzzle waiting to be unraveled.
