It’s been three seasons since Jonathan Simkhai staged a fashion show—a span that, in an industry which normalizes at least two per year, is an eternity. But with a successful rebrand (he dropped “Jonathan” from his eponymous label’s name in February 2023) a thriving international business (shop-in-shops have recently opened in Selfridges in London and Rubaiyat in the Middle East) and a keen understanding of the wants, needs and delights of his customers (the designer spent a month working at the Simkhai boutique in the Hamptons this summer) he no longer feels beholden to industry standards. “I really relieved myself of feeling like I have to do something just because everyone else is doing it or because I did it last time,” he said from his Manhattan office and atelier the day before presenting his spring 2025 collection. This season felt right because he loves the process and, having moved from New York to Los Angeles in 2018—where he employs many former New Yorkers—he and his team were pining for a return. But he also has something to say. Or, rather, a story to tell. And it’s a good one.
“The inspiration for the collection came from a picture that I grew up staring at on my piano in our family living room,” he said. “It was a photo of my mother on her wedding day, and she was wearing this fabric. I m going to show you the picture, because I think it s important.” Simkhai walked to a board awash with references to nature and American sportswear, but the most arresting was the photo of his mother, Orna, an actual blushing bride in a long-sleeve A-line gown made from a highly textured lace. The fabric was from his grandfather’s lace mill in Iran—unspooled from one of the few rolls he took with him when he left the mill and the life he knew behind during the revolution. And the wedding date? September 7, 1972. That the CFDA would schedule Simkhai’s show on his parents’ 52nd anniversary “was kismet,” he said, especially after he’d spent months finding ways to “modernize and pare back” all the texture in his mother’s wedding portrait.
This was achieved in one instance by studying the X-ray of a flower, and mimicking the petal veins for an elaborate, cage-like embroidery on semi-sheer skirts and the stunning strapless finale dress. Elsewhere, 3-D flowers were cut from leather, embellishing a calfskin dress, a bandeau top, and a pencil skirt that hit just below the knee. Simkhai’s maternal grandmother loved butterflies, so dozens of the winged creatures were knitted for the overlay of a bright orange dress. “I tried to spin them so they wouldn t feel too…”
“Mariah Carey halter top?”
“Exactly.”
Though Simkhai has long been “obsessed with hiding seams,” that pendulum swung in the opposite direction for a pleated knit maxi dress worn over a sheer collared shirt—every dart visible. The season’s knit offerings also included sleeveless, woven midi dresses with swishy fringe hems.
Simkhai went through the collection while wearing a roomy cashmere blend jacket and matching trousers. He debuted menswear last year, and this season was the first time it appeared on his runway. His show, held at The Edge at Hudson Yards and styled by longtime collaborator Camilla Nickerson, saw men in relaxed Bermuda shorts and slouchy wide-leg nylon pants with double waistband details.
A few pieces, like a skirt with a poplin base and pile overlay, Simkhai described as “pre-styled.” As much as he wants to push his customers to experiment, he also wants them to feel comfortable, and is happy to take some of the guesswork out of dressing for them. “At the end of the day they have to love it and they have to want to wear it.” If a beaming smile and a curtsey before a room full of onlookers is an indication of feeling good in his clothes, then show attendees saw that from the last woman to walk the runway, wearing one of this season’s black, floral appliquéd skirts with a crisp white shirt: Orna.
