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We Called It. They Wore It. SS25 Fashion Trend Forecasts Proven True

  • Jul 2
  • 6 min read

Updated: Jul 4

Spring / Summer 2025 Runways Validate That Trend Suite’s Forecasts Are Right on Time

A shirtless man wearing a gray suit lies on grass with his arms outstretched. His face is obscured by a cloud of delicate white baby's breath flowers, creating a dreamy, ethereal aesthetic. The lighting is soft and warm, evoking a sense of calm and connection to nature.


In 2023, we released our SS25 Fashion Trend Books with one goal: to help designers, brands, and creatives look into the future before it arrives.

Now that Spring/Summer 2025 runway shows have landed—and the street style dust has settled—we can say it confidently:

We called it.

From surrealist silhouettes to insectoid sunglasses, our predictions didn’t just appear… They took centre stage.

Here’s a breakdown of five key Trend Suite forecasts that came to life in Spring/Summer 2025.





Craft Punk

Punk isn’t dead—it just grew up.

In our SS25 Trend Book, we coined Craft Punk to describe a new wave of anti-establishment fashion refined by craftsmanship: the rebellion is still raw, but the execution is elevated.

This trend takes the spirit of subversion and translates it through elevated tailoring, intricate material work, and intentional styling.

Gone are the days when punk was synonymous solely with torn denim, safety pins, and DIY angst. In SS25, designers redefined rebellion—not by rejecting fashion, but by reshaping it with purpose, skill, and conceptual depth.

The result? A new aesthetic language: raw but refined, tough but tailored, aggressive yet artisanal.


Proof on the Runway:

Jordan Luca SS25: Polished silhouettes and artisanal detailing delivered a modern take on punk—spiked not with safety pins, but with intention.

From cut-outs to hardware, the runway walked the Craft Punk line: rebellious, refined, and razor-sharp. Tap the video below to play and count the number of Craft Punk hits from this single collection.




In the Wild:

Keshi at Coachella 2025: His performance aesthetic was a masterclass in Craft Punk—layered textures, subversive silhouettes, and handmade metal accents.

The look fused underground energy with high-concept detailing, just as we predicted.

Key Traits Realized:

  • Subversive layering

  • Handcrafted metalwork

  • Punk emotion, couture execution







Surreal Revival

Fashion turned fantastical, just like we said it would.

In our Spring/Summer 2025 forecast, we introduced Surreal Revival: a visual renaissance where Baroque and Rococo opulence collide with surrealist imagination.

This wasn’t just about referencing the past—it was about reworking it through a dream lens.

SS25 collections across the globe brought this narrative to life, embracing fashion that feels less like clothing and more like performance.

  • Silhouettes became sculpture.

  • Accessories became symbolism.

  • And runways transformed into theatrical dreamscapes.


At the heart of this trend is emotional exaggeration—a desire to escape realism and lean into the strange, the ornate, the otherworldly.

In an age defined by digital fatigue and cultural uncertainty, designers leaned toward maximalist fantasy as a form of storytelling, rebellion, and relief.


A collage of fashion and design references embodying the Surreal Revival theme. Top left: A sculptural corset with exaggerated hip structures and flowing architectural seams. Top right: A model wearing an ivory dress with voluminous puffed sleeves and a rounded, quilted skirt, styled with a drawstring handbag. Bottom left: A ceramic vase with surreal, organic curves and ridged surfaces, resembling flowing fabric or a twisted silhouette. Bottom right: A runway look featuring an intricately detailed coat with raised embroidery and padded structural curves on the hips, blending classical tailoring with surreal exaggeration. The 'Trend Suite' logo is visible at the bottom.















Dior Men SS25

A full surrealist experience: oversized ceramic hats, animal-shaped brooches, and a runway adorned with anthropomorphic statues.

Kim Jones’ collaboration with artist Hylton Nel turned the show into a living dreamscape.



Aniye Records SS25

Billowing, Rococo-inspired silhouettes rendered in soft, ethereal hues. Dreamlike proportions and marble-palette tones brought our vision of “past-meets-fantasy” to life.

Key Traits Realised:

  • Sculptural storytelling

  • Fantastical silhouettes

  • Soft opulence with a surreal twist






Dreamy Realities

What if fashion felt like a lucid dream?

In our SS25 Trend Book, we introduced Dreamy Realities—a forecast rooted in the blurring lines between the real and the imagined.

This trend explores what happens when technology, emotion, and aesthetics converge in a softened, surreal visual language.

Born out of the rise in AI-generated art, immersive virtual worlds, and the desire to escape hyper-productivity culture, Dreamy Realities represents a shift toward introspective fashion—one that’s fluid, emotionally intelligent, and texturally expressive.

These aren’t garments meant to command with volume or power. They drift, glow, ripple, and respond like digital daydreams made wearable.

Dreamy Realities is less about form and more about feeling—hazy silhouettes, shifting translucency, and delicate chaos.

It evokes a mood somewhere between memory and simulation.



Iris Van Herpen SS25

Her dresses hovered like digital fog—pleated forms that evoked air, code, and liquid movement. This was Dreamy Realities in motion: couture that floats between real and unreal.

Each garment felt like it was algorithmically generated, yet deeply human—engineered precision softened by an ethereal presence. Transparent layers moved like ripples through time, capturing the emotional surrealism at the heart of the trend.



A collage of surreal inspiration images. Top left: A futuristic portrait of a model with silver skin and an oversized, shell-like ruffle illuminated with glowing orbs, set against an ocean background. Top right: A hyperreal digital rendering of a fantastical flower with a translucent stem, glowing filaments, and bubble-like orbs. Bottom left: An ethereal fantasy painting of two figures dressed in flowing, dreamlike garments, intertwined in a mystical pose. Bottom right: An abstract, fluid architectural space with marble-like textures in swirls of pink, blue, and gray, evoking a liquid environment. The 'Trend Suite' logo appears at the bottom.













Yohji Yamamoto SS25

Deconstructed prints, collage-style compositions, and painterly abstraction—all anchoring emotion over literalism. His surreal storytelling was fragmented, poetic, and deeply personal.

Each piece felt like a visual diary entry—layered with memory, instinct, and imperfection. It wasn’t about clarity, but about feeling your way through the form.




London SS25 Street Style

In the streets of London, SS25 fashion echoed the emotional surrealism forecasted in Dreamy Realities.

Loose, layered silhouettes moved with the wind—draped knits, gauzy overlays, and washed pastel palettes created a hazy, cinematic presence. It wasn’t about being styled to perfection. It was about feeling something.

From fluid tailoring to barely-there fabrics, these looks felt like visual sighs—effortless, intimate, and suspended between sleep and consciousness.

Streetwear blurred into dreamwear. This was fashion as atmosphere—not statement.

Key Traits Realised:

  • Mood over logic

  • AI-inspired silhouettes

  • Poetic surrealism






Chrysalises

We predicted insect metamorphosis as a defining design metaphor—and the SS25 fashion landscape proved us right.

Chrysalises isn’t about surface-level insect references. It’s about transformation as an aesthetic principle—shapes that evolve, garments that protect, and silhouettes that feel like they’re in mid-metamorphosis.

Inspired by the fragile strength of cocoons, exoskeletons, and winged creatures, this trend imagines fashion as a living, shifting organism.

In an era of transition—technological, environmental, and psychological—Chrysalises taps into the desire to shed old skins and emerge redefined. It speaks to resilience, softness, and alien beauty all at once.

Designers embraced this language through biomorphic forms, membrane-like layers, and light-reactive materials that echoed evolution in motion.



Chet Lo SS25

From tactile knits to shimmering membranes, the collection fused body-hugging protection with soft evolution. This was the chrysalis mid-change—sensual, strange, and stunning.

Each look seemed to hover between states: not quite cocoon, not yet creature. It captured the tension of transformation—delicate, deliberate, and quietly powerful.


A collage of jewellery and design references under the 'Chrysalises' theme. Top left: A surreal sculptural headpiece resembling an insect or chrysalis form with metallic textures and curved appendages (Quentin Lacombe). Top right: A model wearing stacked, translucent bangle bracelets in frosted white, lavender, and pink, styled with a sequined lilac top and flowing lavender trousers (Emporio Armani). Center left: A collection of asymmetrical gold and pearl earrings with organic, irregular shapes (Missoma). Bottom right: A close-up of stacked, highly polished metallic rings with a liquid, mirror-like finish (Tom Wood). The 'Trend Suite' logo appears in the corner.
Prediction















Prada SS25

Sunglasses with compound-eye lenses and gossamer fabrics draped like wings. This wasn’t fashion inspired by insects—it became them.

The collection blurred the boundary between human and otherworldly, as models moved like evolved beings from a post-natural future.

Every detail suggested emergence—delicate, elusive, and deeply intentional.

Key Traits Realised:

  • Winged silhouettes

  • Protective textures

  • Alien beauty through biomorphism






Cartoon Culture SS25 Fashion Trends

In 2023, we forecasted a bold shift: fashion would become more playful, more expressive, and more exaggerated.

Cartoon Culture was our prediction that nostalgia, pop surrealism, and character-driven design would break through the minimalism fatigue—and by 2025, it had fully arrived.

This trend celebrates the animated, the absurd, and the unapologetically graphic. It pulls from comic books, 90s cartoons, childhood toys, and pop art—injecting fashion with humour, colour, and visual storytelling.

But it’s not just about referencing cartoons. It’s about becoming one.

Oversized proportions, surreal accessories, and hyper-saturated colors made the SS25 runways feel like moving illustrations. Fashion became fun again—not polished and perfect, but quirky, exaggerated, and full of personality.


London Fashion Week SS25

A standout moment came with a Louis Vuitton x Van Gogh collaboration, where classic fine art was reimagined through a cartoonish, pop-art lens.

The painterly textures were vivid, joyful, and graphic—transforming a historic masterpiece into a fashion fantasy piece.

From the accessories to the styling, the energy was clear: style as spectacle, fashion as character.


A collage of Cartoon Culture menswear inspiration images. Top left: A model in an oversized trench coat covered with colorful pixelated graphics, including vending machines and snacks (deadlydollzter). Top right: A sleeveless mesh tank made from interlinked plush panda figures, creating a whimsical, toy-like texture (GCDS). Bottom left: A sculptural metallic red and gold top with surreal cutouts and glossy, liquid-like textures (GCDS). Bottom right: A hooded jacket covered in manga-style illustrations, styled with a wide-brim silver bucket hat (GCDS x One Piece). The layout captures the playful, surreal, and gaming-inspired essence of the trend. 'Trend Suite' logo appears at the bottom.















SS25 Street Style

Outfits with blown-up proportions, character-like styling, and performative flair made fashion feel like a comic strip in motion.  

In this look, exaggerated lavender sleeves mimic cartoon silhouettes, while bubblegum-pink boots and sculptural sunglasses bring a sense of animated boldness. It’s not just an outfit—it’s a costume for the main character.




Stockholm Fashion Week SS25

Playful nostalgia collided with digital surrealism in streetwear that looked like it came from a storyboard.

In this look, a cartoon-embroidered varsity cardigan and crisp pleated skirt channel school-uniform fantasy—while red patent boots and a bold clutch inject graphic, comic-book contrast.

Key Traits Realised:

  • Fashion as character

  • Comic-book exaggeration

  • Whimsy meets high style





Trend Suite Doesn't Just Predict Trends, We Define Them

Spring/Summer 2025 proved the accuracy, depth, and vision of our forecasting work. What once lived in our books now lives on the runways, in the streets, and across fashion’s most exciting conversations.

If you're a brand, designer, editor, or creative leader looking to lead with clarity and confidence, our insights are your competitive edge.

Sign Up for Trend Membership and join the hundreds of forward thinking creators using the Trend Suite to help design for a better and more beautiful future.




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