If there exists an internal playbook about what Ann Demeulemeester “embodies” in 2025, today’s show could be held up as a solid example. Not for its daring, mind you, but for determining what is safely within the label’s perceived borders. For his fourth runway show, Stefano Gallici figured out that the surest way to get the brand back on the map is by proposing many youthful ideas that all kind of riff on OG A.D. rather than something untested and different.
From the sharp deconstructed tailoring and the more romantic ruffles to the raw edges and undone layers, there were the recognizable archetypes of 19th-century romantic and ’90s rock star that seemed destined for fashion-curious indie artists and people wanting to project an arty edge. Gallici leaned more toward maximalist stylings of recomposed jersey, boudoir lace, cobwebby knits, and distressed workwear that have stronger commercial potential. But his skills are more visible when in minimalist mode: the more severe silhouettes that landed somewhere between period Western attire and Hasidic frock coats.
In the brand’s showroom prior to the show, it was interesting to discover how Gallici inserted personal signifiers throughout the collection. That his admiration for Georgia O’Keeffe’s reclusive and ascetic lifestyle in New Mexico explained the desert tones, while the worn denim and Southwest influences across belts, jewelry, and cowboy boots were informed by trips to America. A silk print featured Gallici’s handwriting of love and longing and the drawing of a dream catcher. “I consider this a brand for dreamers,” he explained, himself among them. To wit, a miniature metal notebook accessory to clasp onto a belt loop, its foldout pages no larger than a thumbnail.
Where the axis was once Antwerp, now it tilts toward L.A., which made the collaboration with Ray-Ban—see the all-black Aviators and beaded metal chain—a perfect fit. Gallici described the collection’s roaming spirit as a parallel to his ongoing creative journey: “I always love to lose my path during my collections, because when I lose my path, I find new roads, and this brings me to new places that excite me, that get me emotional.”
