From Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel Debut to “Protect the Dolls”: The Moments That Defined Fashion in 2025

0:05This is The Run Through. I'm Nicole Phelps. Today I have with me in the studio Virginia Smith, Vogue's Global Head of Fashion Network. Hi, Virginia. Hi, Nicole. And Laya Garcia-Furtado, Senior Fashion News Editor at Vogue Runway. Welcome, Laya. Hello. Thank you for having me. I am so glad to be with both of you. It has been a massive year by fashion standards. I think I'm not the only one who feels like, you know, Christmas can't come soon enough. But still a couple of weeks till the holidays. So we are summing it all up. We're putting it together 2025 right off the bat, Virginia. What was the defining fashion moment for you of the year?

0:48Edouard closing the Chanel show was my fashion moment of the year because it encapsulated so many great things. It was a dazzling debut by Matu, a end of a historic fashion season, and just the pure joy of a young woman celebrating her friend. It was so authentic and emotional, and it was really just a pleasure to be there to witness it in person. Recreate the scene. What happened? So, you know, just this incredible show sort of unfolds before us. And the energy, even when you walked into the Grand Palais, they had—Chanel had historically shown at the Grand Palais, and then it was under construction for so long.

1:31So this was the first show back in the Grand Palais for Chanel. and so the excitement was in the air, to say the least. And Awar closed the show, but when she was the last one out, she opened her arms and just sort of embraced the moment in front of all of us. And I honestly get a little tear in my eye thinking about it because I think I was sitting next to you, Nicole. We were both sort of just completely taken back by her emotion and they have a friendship, she and Mattu, and then he came out and you could just feel, you could sort of sense his relief in having it over and done with and her joy in celebrating him and Chanel and the moment.

2:18It was really something I have not witnessed very many times in my very long career of attending shows. And what an incredible debut for him to have that moment. I think the thing about that moment too watching it um via actually not even via live stream because the live stream was delayed but lucien pagès was live streaming it on his instagram thank god for lucien so many times we say that a year um but it was also that she was wearing this beautiful like feathered ball gown skirt that was like just as joyful sort of as the moment and it's so like what we had seen from matthew before at bottega was so like you know his sense of childlike wonder is a thing that I always like come back to and her in that dress and walking and clapping and the hug and the joyfulness, like all of that was so mature.

3:08Like it was so perfectly them that, yeah, I think even from the screen, you could be like, wow, that was so special. Like you've never seen that before because it could only happen with mature, I think. Yeah, it was like unscripted and so lovely. So beautiful. But Laya, you had a different fashion moment of the year, I think. Well, my favorite moment, which is like actually my favorite and my least favorite, it's two in one, was Dario Vitale's debut collection for Versace. It was funny because it was the one where we didn't, I feel like we really didn't know what we were going into. He had been at Miu Miu for a long time.

3:49Before the show, the only look we had seen from him was like jeans and a navy blazer, which was, now that I think of it, feels kind of like, yeah, I was like, was he kind of trolling? And then the collection was like so sexy and like raw and edgy and like all of the things that I think Versace was like in the 80s when Gianni started and before it became sort of what we know it today. And immediately I saw and I was like, this is how I want to dress. Like all the way at the end, there were girls wearing like high-waisted like peg leg jeans that were a little bit too big with the belt, like the buckle kind of very phallic like like running around the waist and the waist was open.

4:30And they just looked so cool. And immediately after the show ended, I went on the RealReal and I Googled. I looked up like versus jeans and I bought a pair. Within minutes. Within minutes. And then I got another pair on eBay later. But it's also my least favorite moment because then last week, Dario was announced that he's leaving. And so it's like my only joy and my only sadness come from the same person. I think Dario will land on his feet. I bet you he's had many job offers. I think so, too. In the 72 hours since then. So we're going to move on very quickly because we are, you know, the year is running out.

5:13Moving on to the it items of the year. The number one it item this year, and I think it's very like love it or hate it, we can all agree that it's a LaBubu. It's just what it is. Do you have a LaBubu? Well, I did love Naomi Osaka's LaBubu during the U.S. Open. I give her high marks for that one. It's so funny because it was like before, I remember at the beginning of the year, like I met somebody. Oh, Bad Bunny's publicist loves a LaBubu. and she was telling me all about La Boo Boo's and I was like, okay, cool. And then like cut to like a month later and it was just like La Boo Boo's are everywhere.

5:49And I don't know, I think it was an evolution. Like last year, everybody was putting charms and chotchis and cutie things on their bags. And this year it was La Boo Boo. And then there were the people that made custom clothes for the La Boo Boo's. Like I saw La Boo Boo's wearing Tom Brand and La Boo Boo's wearing Prada. And, you know, it's fun. And I think the point of this year, I think it's like the more the world feels like it's coming down, the more people just want to have fun. And so it's like, why not have a La Boo Boo on your very expensive bag or not expensive bag? A trend that is perhaps a bit more serious than La Boo Boo's that you also really took to this year was the scarf, the sarong.

6:28Where did that come from? I was just sort of vibing on the second Alanis Morissette record, supposed former Infatuation Junkie. Stay with me. I am getting somewhere fashion with this. And this was a time this record came out in 99. She was wearing a lot of sarongs and paisleys and all of this stuff. And I was like, I have a feeling that Julian Klausner, the new Dries Van Noten designer, is going to like get to Dries and he's going to go back to the archive and he's going to be like, actually, Dries was really into, you know, the sort of exotic, what we called ethnic in the 90s, like clothes. And it's going to be a whole thing.

7:07And that's sort of where it started. And then what's crazy is that then Julian actually dressed Alanis for her residency in Vegas. And I was like, oh, my God, it's true. But anyway, that's yeah. And then Julian did all sarongs for the menswear show, which was incredible with the suits. and, yeah, sarongs and scarves are having a moment. Yes, including on the pre-fall collections where I've seen Julian's influence already taking hold. So good for him. We love Julian. We love him. I feel, I think, you know, my love for Dries Van Noten is no secret and I think Julian is really doing an incredible job.

7:51I had a coffee with him when I was in Paris and I thought he was like completely adorable. But he was telling me though, I think I told you this, Nicole, I've never felt so old in my entire life. He was telling me about going to the same college as I think it was Anthony Vaccarello and I think it was Glenn Martins. And I was like, oh, were you in the same class? He goes, oh no, I'm like 10 years younger than they are. And I was like, oh my God. I think if Julian has Virginia's stamp of approval then, he's gonna go far. Then he's gonna think it's great. More on the biggest fashion moments of the year after the break.

8:42Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford, senior awards correspondent at Vanity Fair and co-host of Little Gold Men. Oscar season is upon us. Little Gold Men takes you behind the scenes of the race for the biggest prize in Hollywood. There's a hundred wrestlers in the room, but only one can be Oscar nominated. Whether you're a movie lover or an industry buff, Little Gold Men from Vanity Fair has everything you need to know about this year's Oscar race. Follow and listen to Little Gold Men wherever you get your podcasts.

9:18So, Virginia, we were together for another big fashion moment, which was the Calvin Klein show back in February in New York. When? Well, that was a personal moment for me because Calvin Klein, the man and the designer, attended Veronica Leone's debut show for Calvin Klein. And I worked for Calvin for many years right before I came to Vogue. And when Calvin retired, he's like really the one designer who actually retired. And he, you know, sort of left the fashion industry and does his own thing now and doesn't, you know, really get out and about in too many fashion moments. So for her to have his endorsement was such an incredible moment for her.

10:06I'm sure it made her very nervous, but it was, I mean, remarkable that he did that for her. And it was so fun seeing him. I was also with Tawny Goodman, our colleague, who also worked for Calvin at the time. And, you know, as did Grace Coddington, Phyllis Posnick, worked for Calvin Klein Beauty. I mean, so many people came through. It was like a finishing school for fashion people. It was, you know, he was like a sponge, you know, and he loved different sort of types around him. And that was the beauty of working there is that everyone sort of came through the door. Well, I want to give a special plug to the Run Through podcast because Mr.

10:45Calvin Klein was a guest of the podcast. So please cycle back through the listings and find it. He spoke really movingly about his youth in the Bronx and also, you know, what he thinks of fashion today. It was a really fun conversation. We are going to move on to the September to remember when I think we counted them all up, right, Laya? Depends on if you count Jack and Lazaro now of Lueve as one or two. I think then it was 16. it was i mean the the does what do we call it the not moving chairs september to remember the september to remember no what do you call the game the musical chair music the september to remember game of musical chairs i feel like we have been talking about it for like 10 years but it's like the chanel like the chanel announcement only took one year and it's funny that we were like oh my god like when is this when are the news gonna break um but it was yeah it was an incredible season i hope we never live through a season like that again but it was good like here in new york we saw rachel scott do a soft launch um at proenza which was funny because it wasn't supposed she was like it's not a real collection it's just a little it's a preview but it was a beautiful collection and i loved because i feel like um you know rachel and i are similar in age and when the prince of boys were starting was like the early 2000s and it sort of defined what you wanted to like grow up into like the cool girl and I felt like that appreciation that that she has for them showed in the clothes in a way that was really cool I was like oh I recognize that you love them the way that like I love them I kept thinking when I went backstage to see her after the show you could she was I think she was sort of overwhelmed but the one thing that I kept thinking about was I wish Jack and Laz could have been there because they would have loved that moment so much.

12:46And it was, I don't know, it just felt like a really sort of great transition to me. I was very happy for her. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I think they would have, I'm sure they're very proud. Because I feel like you see that and you know that that's somebody that loves them, you know. Virginia, what debut stood out to you? I mean, you mentioned Chanel. Yeah, I mean, I think the other, you know, huge debut was obviously Jonathan Anderson at Dior, and, you know, now he's had three, already three collections underneath his belt, which is incredible to think of. You know, he had a menswear collection, and then the women's ready-to-wear, and then there's just a new menswear, is it pre-fall, I guess, that's out.

13:27I lose track of those seasons. And you can already really see, you know, a direction for him. And, And, you know, he's just such a master at this combination of something classic with casual and sort of his eccentric twist on it. And I thought it was interesting to see that his newest men's collection was really sort of a refining of where he went initially. And I think it's great, particularly when a designer is, you know, taking over a new house and establishing a vocabulary for that house, that they give it a moment to refine and take hold. And, you know, you don't need to move on from it immediately.

14:10And I think that's sort of great to see. And then the other thing, I think we're all still talking about the Chanel show, the second Chanel show in New York. And it's incredible. Like, I've had so many people who have nothing to do with fashion talk to me about this show. Like, you know, from someone in the hair salon to a taxi cab driver. And it really, like, seemed to have gotten everyone's attention. And the show was amazing in terms of the clothes were great. But, I mean, I also loved, I mean, the people there was amazing. I mean, I was just talking when you have Dita Blair, you know, A$AP Rocky and Jon Bon Jovi at a show.

14:54None of them have taken the subway in the last 10 years. Jon Bon Jovi, I love that he was there because why not? You know, why not have Jon Bon Jovi at Chanel? It's amazing. And that's why I sort of loved that. Yeah. So, I mean, but even today I had someone talk to me about Chanel. I mean, it's very funny how that's become really embedded. Do you think it's because of the set? Like, it was Chanel for the people? Like, he brought Chanel to the subway? I mean, why do you think it's caught on like this? You know, I think it's other people have done shows in the subway before, but I think the fact that it's Chanel, you know, you know, one of the most luxurious brands in the entire world coming to a New York subway.

15:36You know, I guess that's why. And I just think obviously there's a lot of interest in him right now as well. But it certainly has has been a topic of conversation the last week or so. I think also just the way that he stages things like his emphasis on individuals and people like the amount of times I've seen people post like a video or still of that woman in this sort of yellow ish suit like leaning against a phone like people saw that and they related to that. And I think that's also what makes him so special that even somebody sort of outside of the world of fashion can sort of see these moments from the runway and be like, oh, I understand what the message is here.

16:20So what were some of the big messages of 25 for you fashion wise? I think starting with the most obvious one is Protect the Dolls. Connor Ives wore this T-shirt at the end of his fall 2025 show that said Protect the Dolls, which is a message about protecting trans women. and he just made it for himself because he wanted to, you know, obviously the transgender community has been under attack this year and last year and next year. But people really wanted the t-shirt and so he had to, he produced it and then all of the proceeds went to charity and then like Pedro Pascal ended up wearing and all of the celebrities ended up wearing and it became a moment and I think what's cool about it is that it was sort of, you know, we talk a lot about like organic engagement or like authenticity.

17:15And I think because it wasn't something that he was like, here is, I'm making this for sale. It was like, I made it for me. And then people liked it. And I feel like that also helped it sort of become a bigger thing. But I think that was one of the biggest like moments slash messages of the year. I think I read that it made$600 ,000 for this charity, which is incredible. Like something that was completely unplanned. And I mean, that's a lot of money. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we can't talk about 2025 without talking about Marty Supreme, even though none of us have. Marty Supreme. None of us have seen it.

17:50I'm dying to see it. I love Timmy. Timmy Chalamet. But he made, you know, one thing we know about Timmy is that he loves fashion. He loves fashion in a very New York way, which I think is an important distinction to make. And so Timmy and his stylist and his friend who's a designer for Namias, I think actually Kylie's, Kylie's friend. And anyway, they all got together and made this line of super cool Marty Supreme merch. And it's obviously going viral. All of the jackets are really hard to find. There's like specific colorways, exclusive colorways. And everyone wants a Marty Supreme jacket. But it's also because, you know, when you see Timmy wearing it, you're like, yeah, that's cool.

18:29I want to wear a Marty Supreme jacket with my Tims. It's so New York. And that's why we love Timmy. Have you guys seen anybody on the street wearing the jacket yet or just in like on social media? I've only seen social media. Me too. I think maybe if I went to Soho, I would see it. I don't know. I have a 22-year-old son who sent me a very panicked text. Could I please get this Marty Supreme jacket for him? So it's definitely resonating. Taylor, please help me out. Let's get this Marty Supreme jacket to the Vogue opposite. Please. Thank you. Okay. So Taylor was also behind another very important men's trend in 2025, if I have the story right.

19:11Virginia, will you please? I think you do. Well, as a pant girl, I will definitely weigh in on this one. But, you know, Kendrick Lamar having, you know, probably the most culturally relevant moment of the entire year in his Super Bowl performance, most watched, halftime performance of all time. But yet one of the topics of conversation was his Celine Flair jean. That's true. which was hysterical if you think about it. You know, he had this, you know, incredibly historically incredible show, and then we're talking about his flare jean. But, you know, to me, whatever Kendrick feels good about doing, I am supporting.

19:48So I'm down for his flare jean. It's a bold look, though, for a guy, right? Like, not a lot of guys are wearing flares at the moment. Not right now. But I think it is funny how jean fit are one of the things that seem to be sort of most divisive. Like, you know, we've talked many a time about the return of the skinny jeans or the low rise jeans. And everyone's like, I'll never over my dead body. Like, for some reason, jeans is where we're all like not friends anymore. Jeans is where we draw the line. Well, on the subject of silhouettes, Sean McGurr tried to, oh, he did bring back the Bumster at McQueen.

20:25I thought it looked great, actually. I really liked it when it came down the runway. I was like, yeah, it's time for that. Let's go there. The Bumster is an extremely low-rise jean that Alexander McQueen first introduced in the 90s. 90s. A tailored pant. It's a tailored pant. But it shows the top of the butt crack. Just a bit of butt. And if you go back to 90s folks, there's some terrific pictures of the Bumster. But he brought it back. Can the Bumster work in real life, though? where are you going in a bumpster? Not on the subway. I feel like it would have, I mean, in the early 2000s were girls wearing super low rise jeans and then you could see the thong on top.

21:12Like, sure. Do we need to do that again? No. But I do think that like, if you're really into the bumpster, you can wear it. This is, and this is something that I like cooked up in one of my address columns. Sorry to self-reference, but it was like. The address column is the must read column that Laya does every week about how to get dressed. Jill Sanders, Simone Bellotti, another one of our faves who just did the debut there, he did these like like layered tanks and it was like a really long tank with a shrunken tank on top. And I was like, I feel like you could wear a long tank with the bumpsters.

21:48So you get sort of the elongated silhouette because McQueen, important McQueen, Lee McQueen said that he didn't he didn't do it to show the butt. He wanted to elongate the torso so you can still get the elongated torso vibe with a long tank. and you're protecting your modesty, and we don't need to see a whale tail. So there is a way to do it. But I don't know if people will go through all that trouble. Yeah, I mean, I'm curious to see if they actually retail them or if it was just a runway thing. I'm sure we'll see some. I can see some of the girlies. The pop girlies will be wearing the bombster.

22:21Yes, you're probably right. Let's move on to a recent appointment. I think we were all elated when Grace Wales Bonner was named the new menswear designer at Hermes. Why? Why was everybody so moved by this? You know why? I think, well, first of all, we all love and respect Grace. You know, she's an incredible designer, and she's been mentioned many times to head up one of the key houses. But this one, I have to say, I think surprised many of us because it hadn't been discussed so much in the press, and it was sort of wonderful just to see, you know, this incredible sort of passing the torch to a newer generation without a drama.

23:05And that should happen more often. I think other brands should take note of that and not have it be something that's discussed endlessly per months, sort of as rumor before it actually is announced. It was so classy of our mess to be like, after 30, right? 37 years. 37 years. Veronique Nechanian. Veronique stepped down, and then like the next day it was like, and welcome Grayswell's Bonner. And it was just so beautiful. It was a mic drop in a very sort of chic way as only Hermes could do. So chic. We love Veronique too. And yes, and then she gets a whole year to prepare. We have to wait till January 2027 to see her first show.

23:45Which is also very Hermes. Like, you know, they'd never be like, okay, three weeks, you know, like they're a house of craftsmanship and luxury. Get a year, do it right. Right, takes time. Yeah. How about let's talk about some important red carpet or some important celebrity moments. I think Michelle Obama's book tour has been really remarkable, right, Virginia? Michelle Obama in Chanel is my, I think it's my top red carpet look of the entire year. I mean, it was surprising and it was so incredibly chic. And of course, that look was top of my Chanel list on a personal level. and to see her in it.

24:27And she looks so great. And look, you know, it was perfect for me. She's on tour. She's written a book about her style as a first lady. And she is, you know, just as making as much noise and as many waves, I guess you could say, you know, in her post-first lady life with these really incredible looks. It wasn't just Chanel, right? Yeah, the Loewe look that she wore, I felt how Virginia feels about Chanel because on the runway, it was like a black dress with a pink and yellow panel, like very bold colors on the runway. They showed it with two different color tights, which I loved. But seeing her and I think if I'm not mistaken, she was the first person to wear Loewe like right after the show.

25:15so I thought it was really cool of them to sort of make that statement with Michelle and to take a dress that I feel like a lot of people maybe were like I don't know like how wearable is it or like how much can you really translate that into real life to see her be the person that wears it and she looked so good showing off her famous biceps yeah and it's like it's a directional look you know it's not like oh she's wearing a little shift it was something and she really just made it her own. And I thought it was a win for Jack and Laz and it was a win for her and it was a win for us because, you know, we have to write about it and it's good when we get excited about the things that we have to write about.

25:54Keep touring that book, Mrs. Obama. What about the Met Gala? We can't not talk about the Met Gala. It was back in May, So it feels like a long time ago. We're already thinking about the Met Gala 2026, of course. But the exhibition was super fine, tailoring black style. And it was a super fine night, right? It was a super fine night. I mean, I particularly love this exhibit. When I was walking through and saw, you know, our former colleague Andre Leon Talley's luggage with his ALT, his Louis Vuitton matching luggage with his ALT monogram, that really hit home for me. You know, it was pretty remarkable.

26:38And then, you know, as you know, Nicole, we do a fashion story for Vogue that relates to the exhibit every year. And this year was done by Tyler Mitchell and stylist Law Roach. And it was just an incredible group of artists and people who were photographed for Vogue. And I got to speak to Dapper Dan on the phone, which was a highlight for me. But the whole, I felt so much about this myth that everyone was so happy to be involved in the project. And you just felt that excitement, not only on the night, but when you were working through the various shoots and projects. It felt very, very joyful to me.

27:22Yeah, and those pictures in the magazine, my mom is a faithful subscriber for redacted years. and when she got the issue she left me like three insane voice notes being like oh my god this is so beautiful i'm so like crazy so i feel like that's also like we were all you know impressed but it's also nice to see when somebody that's completely well i wouldn't say if she's gonna say she's outside of the world because i'm here because she was you know she was described first but that was also really cool to just see the pictures were so beautiful and everyone was so um so into it we'll be right back after a quick break

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28:47Let's move on to some of the sad lives we lost this year. Notably, probably most historically, Giorgio Amani passed. I think it was just a couple of weeks before he was scheduled to celebrate his 50th anniversary. And I remember we were in my office, right? Or we were about to have our morning meeting. And Anna, you know, told us the news. And it's very it's not it's going to sound weird, but when there is sort of a passing of this magnitude at the office, it feels like we work in a newsroom in a way that I find very exciting because we're all like mobilizing and we all huddled in the office. And, you know, we reached out to Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett and Lauren Hutton and we got some beautiful memories from from them.