Michael Kors pays tribute to Italian craft for SS25
Each season, we break down everything you need to know about the new collections in The Fashion Week Cheat Sheet. After speaking to the designers about their inspiration, their hero pieces, the faces on the catwalk and the names on the front row, we present your complete guide to spring/summer 2025.
It was an ode to Italian craft for Michael Kors this season, who wanted to pay tribute to the artisanal teams he works with so closely in the country – and has done for over three decades – with a collection that was all about unexpected texture and everyday elegance.
"For a designer, the greatest thing is to find partners who can bring your ideas to life, which is what Italy’s artisans have done for us for 35 years," Kors explained in his show notes. "So, this collection really highlights that workmanship, tailoring and handwork, the qualities that make a piece special and unique, and turn it into something you want to wear every day and own forever."
Theme and inspiration
Tapping into the beauty and technical brilliance of Italian craft, the collection was all about texture. It was "laidback but luxurious, rustic but opulent", nodding particularly to the areas of Procida, Ischia and Stromboli.
"You’ll see a lot of artisanal texture in the collection," he explained backstage ahead of the show. "Everything from raffia to hand-done flowers, leather, lace that’s on leather. Everything is not what it seems, it’s rustic but it’s glamorous, it’s the dichotomy of the two different things."
This emphasis on craftsmanship can be seen throughout a number of unexpected textures – a floral print that is actually made from hand-pleated organza flowers, tiny leather paillettes that have all been hand-sewn to look like lace, and organza and paillettes combined together to look like feathers.
"We were thinking about the workmanship and the tailoring and the handwork that I think makes a piece that is special, something that is unique, but this is not about the dress you wear to a party once, it’s about the dress that you can wear over and over. It’s everyday special."
Another inspiration came from Netflix's new series Ripley, and its "dark romance" as well as photographs by Herb Ritts that Kors has collected over the years.
"If you think about Ripley, he was always in his shirt but it's this idea of these wonderful necklines," he explained. "Whether it's a portrait neckline coming off the shoulder, sweetheart, a little romance definitely is happening here."
Hero pieces
"The eveningwear is not about a traditional red-carpet Hollywood gown," he said. "It's about flat sandals and it feels very easy – it has the attitude of the skirt. Unless you’re going on a red carpet in Cannes or you’re going to the Met Gala, let’s stay with things that have that easiness, something relaxed and quite honestly very American."
Other favourites include the handbags, especially a market bag, which was woven by hand and covered in fringe, as well as an update on the popular Manhatta bag which launched last season.
"We wanted to play again with that classic bag for us and think about artisanal treatments on it like a hand-braided handle as well as fringe, and hand weaving."
The setting
The show was hosted at The Shed in Hudson Yards.
Who was there?
Olivia Wilde, Lindsay Lohan, Kerry Washington and Suki Waterhouse were among the names on the front row.
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