Stefano Gallici is a wanderer. Beyond his physical travels documented through Polaroids and personal writings, his creative mind metaphorically roams in a non-linear way, freely moving between past and present, across personal memories and plenty of music and literary references.
Journeys must fascinate the designer more than destinations and the one he embarked on since getting promoted to lead Ann Demeulemeester in 2023 offers him vast lands to explore. If exactly last year he compared such an exercise to wandering around a forest, for fall 2025 he seems to have switched to rugged deserts, inspired by a recent trip to Los Angeles that ignited many of his passions, including thrifting and collecting anything from vintage clothes to vinyl.
The youthful, rebellious characters that walked his compelling show exuded a free-spirited, rock attitude and Western nods in their lived in-like outfits that infused new energy in the brand’s dark romantic aesthetic.
As he gains confidence, Gallici used this grit to reinvigorate the elements he’s anchoring his vision on, such as different takes on tailoring, heavy layering, distressed effects and the interplay between rawness and delicacy.
Thick leather and shearling biker jackets and trench coats with a rusty, worn-out patina and disheveled feel were layered over ruffled shirts, lingerie-inspired satin and lace separates or juxtaposed with the shiny, billowing textures of a dress and robe printed with Gallici’s handwriting.
Suppler leather alternatives included vests and flared pants with criss-cross detailing on the sides and long laces dragging out the runway – a silhouette that was also seen in the mannish, retro-tinged pinstripe tailoring. These ranged from the new, shrunken proportions and extra-fitted shape of stiff four-button jackets to the stark black pieces that closed the show and evoked American artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s austere personal style. Â
The sharpness of the collarless coats with oversized shoulder constructions contrasted with the DIY appeal of knitwear, spanning from a poncho doubling as shearling-lookalike outerwear to a distressed, gauzy-textured white dress.
Reinforcing the Western narrative and winking to music-festival attire, Gallici peppered looks with cowboy boots, fringed bags and dangling jewelry. He also secured his first collaboration in the accessories category, tying up with Ray-Ban on an oversized version of its signature aviator sunglasses, which will come in three colors and with a beaded chain.
