On March 8, a crowd of black-and-white clad Ann Demeulemeester acolytes descended upon the Espace des Blancs Manteaux in Paris’s Marais for the label’s Autumn/Winter 2025 collection “Road to Never.”Each seat provided a booklet of the collection’s Wall of References, which married an idealized America of the past with London counterculturalism: a Dennis Hopper photograph of a California license plate. An image of Georgia O’Keefe in a slubby linen skirt suit. A crowd of teenagers at Lollapalooza 1992. A rack of greasy leather perfecto jackets. A fanzine of Sisters of Mercy. A selection of pinned and tasseled ties from Judy Blame for The House of Beauty and Culture.
As the crowd settled in, the booming drums of The Cult’s “C.O.T.A” began, and models stormed from behind the curtain, each with an array of ribbons trailing behind them. The first look placed the collection firmly in Los Angeles, the model in a low cut draped top, high boots, and sporting a bandana tied around her head. They wore Ray-Ban aviators, Gallici’s first eyewear collaboration for the brand. What proceeded was an homage to Americana, filtered through a Demeulemeester lens. Slim, flared trousers and blousey white tops recalled the 1970s counterculture uniforms of Woodstock, redone in Demeulemeester’s signature black and white and finished with Western style concho belts. Shiny, textural leathers carried the spirit of the perfecto jackets from the Wall of References.
References to the archive were less direct this season – rather than direct reissues, house codes were filtered through Gallici’s vision. “In the middle of the process, I try to see what is working from the archive here,” he says. For example, Demeulemeester’s signature shearling coats were reworked for the collection in a sun-faded olive green inspired by vintage military garments and the Californian desert. A leather jacket worn over a shearling liner was executed in a distressed leather reminiscent of Autumn/Winter 2000. Tasseled leather belts similarly recalled Autumn/Winter 2002’s woven leather accessories. The leather hats atop most models’ heads recalled Ann’s Spring/Summer 2012, but styled somewhere in between Georgia O’Keefe and Sisters of Mercy – another nod to the Wall of References. High cutaway pinstripe jackets reworked the deconstructed tailoring of Ann’s Spring/Summer 1994 for a harder-edge, while a feathered placket accessory recalled the shirt-placket tank top from the same collection.
Key to the brand’s contemporary direction is Gallici’s collaboration with stylist Elodie David. The pair worked closely together in preparation for the collection, each sharing points of inspiration with the other. “We really curate the research all together,” says Gallici. “We have a great pop of freshness, this kind of romantic – more my side, more the Ann side – melting together with this French chicness.” Her sense of bohemianism permeated the collection, especially in the accessories. Ann often produced jewelry out of found objects – broken scissors, bones, and feathers – a similar approach to that of Judy Blame’s for The House of Beauty and Culture, documented in Maciejowska’s book from the Wall of References. That sense of instinctive realism was done for Autumn/Winter 2025 in silver – like the vintage key necklaces evoking Spring/Summer 2006 – bridging the house’s past into its future. Backstage, the mood was exuberant, as models and staff shared flutes of champagne in celebration of the success of the show. Underneath all of the runway ornamentation, it was easy to miss the appeal of the core silhouette proposed by Gallici – but the staff uniforms reminded of the house’s more minimalist tendencies. The straight shouldered tailored coats, paired with black trousers and hefty combat boots made the team look poised and professional in their revelry, as they celebrated another leap towards the future for Ann Demeulemeester.