The Fall 2025 Runway Looks That Will Define Cool Style This Year

If you want to know what the fashion set will be adopting, re-creating, and iterating on in no time, I suggest you start with these 11 runway moments. While there are a number of broader trends happening, I'm pinpointing the specific looks from the fall/winter 2025 runways that I think will be the ultimate source of cool style this year.

During fashion month, these were the specific images that blew up group chats and social feeds, and I can state with conviction that these looks will set the tone. You see, we look to the runways each season to determine the overarching trends, but if you really think about it, we can trace the defining elements of each back to a handful of specific looks, whether it was an article of clothing, a novel styling trick, a potential It color, or an overall mood.

In six months' time, celebrity stylists will pull these looks for their clients, and they'll feature in the editorial spreads of magazines and across your social media feeds. Whether it's the actual looks or savvy interpretations, these are the specific runway looks that will influence cool style this year. Consider this your crash course in fall 2025 fashion.

Miu Miu Look 48: Exposed Bras

The thing about Miu Miu runways is that their beauty always lies in the details. This season, that meant exposed bras peeking out from underneath crushed-satin dresses whose straps were seen falling off the models' shoulders. Bra details have been a theme throughout the fall/winter 2025 collections, but nowhere was their impact felt as strongly as it was here. By fall, fashion people will be re-creating the look with meant-to-be-seen lingerie taking center stage.

Calvin Klein Look 10: Retro Suiting

Blazers are always a wise purchase, but a full suit is the ultimate savvy investment. The fall will bring a series of retro skirt suits reminiscent of either 1950s glamour or 1980s corporate dress codes, the latter of which Calvin Klein tapped into with a strong-shouldered collarless blazer and pencil skirt that came in an office-ready slate gray and were finished with a kiss-lock handbag and sensible pumps. As soon as the look debuted on the runway, tastemakers rang unanimous in their adoration for the the '80s suiting silhouette, a telltale sign that this won't be the last we'll see of it.

Khaite Look 22: Over-the-Knee Boots

Khaite doesn't follow trends—it sets them. One I'm predicting will take off for fall? Flat knee-high boots much like the kind featured in this collection. Here, they were styled with Khaite's signature slim-fit denim in a dark rinse tucked into the boots, a styling combination that may very well become the only, if not most popular, way to wear the shoe trend.

Saint Laurent Look 1: Technicolor Tones

For several seasons, it's been safe to say that electric, highlighter hues have been deemed "out" in lieu of soft pastels and clean neutrals. However, that stands to change in six months' time if Saint Laurent has anything to say about it. Designer Anthony Vaccarello showed a number of short belted jackets in the brand's F/W 25 collection that came in a range of Technicolor hues, including violet, tangerine, fuchsia, and scarlet.

Tory Burch Look 11: Sporty Touches

Two words: track pants. Tory Burch is making a strong case for the sportswear staple to be a fashion-person one too. The brand put several of them on its fall runway styled with sharply tailored blazers and luxe fur jackets that lent the hypercasual piece an immediately elevated feel. They're so wrong that they just might be right.

Fendi Look 84: Full-Time Fur

If I had to sum up the entire fall 2025 season in a single word, it would be furry. Fur was inescapable this season as designers showed fur coat after coat, but Fendi's vision will come to the forefront this winter. The Italian house showed nonna-coded fur coats and luxe fur stoles that accompanied delicate lace skirts and peep-toe pumps for a retro twist on evening attire that had fashion editors swooning.

Kallmeyer Look 6: Plaid Predominance

Now that fashion month is behind us, I can say with confidence that plaid, of all things, was the Trojan horse of the season. (Sorry, leopard and zebra!) It popped up at Calvin Klein, TWP, and Kallmeyer, but it was the latter whose styling is what will catch on the most come fall—a plaid shirt tied insouciantly around the waist feels just right.

Schiaparelli Look 5: Belts on Belts

Belts are getting freaky. Whether they were double wrapped or even triple layered, fall is set to be the season of the statement belt. One take on that was Schiaparelli's look 5, in which the model cinched her leather skirt with not one, not two but three Western metal-closure belts for maximum impact.

The Row Look 20: Trench Coats 2.0

If The Row says jump, we ask how high. In this case, it's shortened jackets the brand is proposing, and after several seasons where long, sweeping coats have prevailed, the presence of a short belted trench coat in its winter 2025 collection felt like a breath of fresh air.

Ashlyn Look 1: Peplums Return

Sleek peplums are heading for a rerun. They popped up in Milan at Max Mara, Bally, and Diesel as well as Paris at Alaïa, Chloé, and Dior, but it was the opening look from New York label Ashlyn that I can't stop thinking about. There, it took the form of a peplum-hem knit top layered with a bright turtleneck underneath—understated but so elegant. The market is already flooding with chic options, making this a trend we won't be waiting to wear.

Fforme Look 6: Low-Key Fringe

Fringe may most often be associated with boho style, but according to Fforme, it can (and definitely should) exist within the chicest and most minimalistic wardrobes too. It arrived in a surprisingly low-key way on the brand's runway—specifically in look 6, where an ivory fringed dress peeked out from underneath a tailored wool coat. It's that precise combination of flamboyant fringe and sleek tailoring that scratched an itch in my brain.