FASHION’S GREAT RESET: A CHEAT SHEET

BY BOOTH MOORE

This fall, fashion is experiencing a seismic creative shift with new designers making their runway debuts at nearly every major luxury house, including Chanel, Balenciaga, Loewe and Bottega Veneta.

August 1, 2025

Jonathan Anderson’s Dior Men’s debut fashion show. Source: Fashion Week Daily

Fashion’s top creatives including Matthieu Blazy, Jonathan Anderson, Pierpaolo Piccioli and more are in a game of designer musical chairs this season, shuffling from one house to the next in new roles as they show their spring 2026 collections in Milan and Paris.

They are being tasked with making magic, by refreshing heritage brands for a new generation. Their debut runway shows must have cultural relevance and commercial appeal that can translate around the globe, on red carpets, and in the digital realm.

Below, who and what to watch in fashion’s great reset.

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SOUTH COAST PLAZA

MUSICAL CHAIRS: DESIGNER EDITION

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BALENCIAGA

PIERPAOLO PICCIOLI

Master Spanish designer Cristobal Balenciaga rocketed to fame in Paris in the 1950s and ‘60s with innovative shapes including the tunic, sack and babydoll dresses that defined the era. Successors Nicolas Ghesquière, Alexander Wang and Demna pushed the brand forward into more edgy, experimental territory—and streetwear.

STAR DESIGNER: Pierpaolo Piccioli, most recently at Valentino, where he demonstrated a keen sense of sculpture and volume, key tenets of Balenciaga’s DNA.

CURTAIN TIME: October when the spring 2026 collections will be presented at Paris Fashion Week.

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BOTTEGA VENETA

LOUISE TROTTER

Founded as a leathergoods house in Vincenza, Italy in 1966 with a timeless, non-logoed approach reflected in its slogan “When your own initials are enough.” Famous for Intrecciato woven leather, Bottega gained global appeal in the 1970s and ’80s when Bianca Jagger starred in a campaign and Andy Warhol made a short film about it. Designers Tomas Maier, Daniel Lee and Matthieu Blazy have all put their own stamp on the stealth wealth brand.

STAR DESIGNER: Louise Trotter brings with her commercial experience working for brands including Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste and most recently Carven, suggesting she may be pragmatic in her approach to Bottega, designing clothes and accessories that let women be themselves.

CURTAIN TIME: September when the spring 2026 collections will be presented at Milan Fashion Week. But Trotter teased her new work at the Cannes Film Festival, when she dressed Julianne Moore in a minimal, elegant black strapless gown with tassel detail, and Vicky Krieps in an Intrecciato woven top over crisp white pants.

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CELINE

MICHAEL RIDER

What was a made-to-measure children’s shoe business established in 1945 has grown into a French luxury sportswear and leathergoods power, experiencing massive growth in the last 15 years under the direction of clean minimalist Phoebe Philo and rebel rock n’ roller Hedi Slimane.

STAR DESIGNER: American Michael Rider, who gave Polo Ralph Lauren a new cool in his six years there and worked under Philo at Celine before that.

CURTAIN TIME: Rider showed his first co-ed collection in July on the eve of the haute couture calendar, earning rave reviews for his skewed French sportswear with nods to American prep, including roomy blazers and rugby shirts, pleated culottes, charm necklaces, silk scarves and the return of the Phantom bag.

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CHANEL

MATTHIEU BLAZY

First established as a hat business in 1910 by Coco Chanel, the global fashion juggernaut is beloved for tweed suits, quilted 2.55 bags, two-toned shoes, camelia flowers and Chanel No. 5 perfume.

STAR DESIGNER: Matthieu Blazy, taking over from Karl Lagerfeld’s successor, Virginie Viard. The French Belgian designer was creative director of Bottega Veneta from 2021 to 2024 where he made the everyday extraordinary through extreme craft and leatherworking wizardry.

CURTAIN TIME: On the runway in October when the Spring 2026 ready-to-wear collection will be shown in Paris.

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DIOR

JONATHAN ANDERSON

Founder Christian Dior achieved global fame with his 1947 “New Look” collection, restoring feminine curves, cinched waists and full skirts to fashion following wartime austerity. Since then, other designers have added their own unique visions, including showmanship from John Galliano and a feminist take on fashion from Maria Grazia Chiuri, who brought many female artists into her creative process and made the Book Tote a runaway success.

STAR DESIGNER: Jonathan Anderson, fresh off a winning decade at Loewe.

CURTAIN TIME: Anderson debuted his first men’s collection on the runway in June to near universal critical acclaim and a starry front row including Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and Sabrina Carpenter. He infused sporty classics such as tweed Bar jackets, cable knit sweaters, chinos and sneakers, with notes of historicism, as seen on the pannier cargo shorts, floral waistcoats and cravats. His first women’s collection will be shown in October.

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GIVENCHY

SARAH BURTON

Established in Paris in 1952 by Hubert de Givenchy, who designed much of Audrey Hepburn’s personal and onscreen wardrobe and led by a succession of starry designers from the 1990s on including John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Riccardo Tisci and Clare Waight Keller.

STAR DESIGNER: Sarah Burton, Givenchy’s eighth designer and second female couturier after a career spent at Alexander McQueen where she created Kate Middleton’s historic wedding gown.

CURTAIN TIME: In stores soon, Burton’s debut collection for fall 2025 applies the house’s signature femininity, hourglass shapes, crisp shirting and bows to sexy sportswear and suiting, as well as standout red carpet styles like a clever minidress covered in cosmetics compacts.

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GUCCI

DEMNA

The Florentine leathergoods house created in 1921 that soared to fashion megabrand status under Tom Ford in the 1990s, Alessandro Michele in the 2010s, and even had a movie made about its colorful family origins, “The House of Gucci” (2021).

STAR DESIGNER: Demna, a fashion rabble rouser who spent the last decade at Balenciaga where he elevated streetwear to luxury, took the house’s heritage architectural silhouettes in an exaggerated, subversive direction, and tapped into pop and digital culture by collaborating with “The Simpsons,” Fortnite, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, while staging provocative runway shows commenting on capitalism, corporate branding, war and climate change.

CURTAIN TIME: On the runway in March 2026 with the fall 2026 collection.

OF NOTE: Demna already has some experience with Gucci; in 2021, he and then Gucci creative director Michele “hacked” each other’s brands, reinterpreting recognizable styles and swapping logos.

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JIL SANDER

SIMONE BELLOTTI

Heidemarie Jiline Sander founded her less-is-more brand in Hamburg, Germany in 1968, and was a leading voice in 1990s era minimalism. Since then, Raf Simons as well as Lucie and Luke Meier have taken turns at the brand.

STAR DESIGNER: Although he had a long arc of experience at Italian brands Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Dolce&Gabbana, Simone Bellotti came into his own as creative director of Swiss luxury brand Bally where he created covetable contemporary tailoring, knitwear and accessories mingling alpine folklore and punk rock design elements.

CURTAIN TIME: September when the spring 2026 collections will be shown at Milan Fashion Week, but Bellotti teased his vision in a music video shot in Hamburg and scored by Bochum Welt. The track will also be released as an LP and sold in stores.

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LOEWE

JACK McCOLLOUGH & LAZARO HERNANDEZ

A leathergoods house opened in Madrid in 1846 that grew into a fashion and fragrance brand in the 1970s. Narciso Rodriguez and Michael Kors have taken turns at the helm, but it was Jonathan Anderson who turned the LVMH-owned brand into a creative leader with shapeshifting, craftsy clothes, must-have accessories and objets, as well as memorable celebrity moments like the “Decades of Confusion” how to pronounce Loewe campaign starring Dan Levy and Aubrey Plaza.

STAR DESIGNER: Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the American design duo behind Proenza Schouler, known for its New York cool girl vibe, modern, commercially-appealing sportswear and PS1 bags.

CURTAIN TIME: On the runway in October when the Spring 2026 collection will be shown in Paris.

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MAISON MARGIELA

GLENN MARTENS

Founded in 1988 by Belgian designer Martin Margiela, famous for maintaining his anonymity. The avant-garde brand’s hallmarks include minimalism, deconstruction, upcycling, offbeat materials such as plastic and ceramics, and the tabi shoe, after the traditional Japanese sock shoe. After Margiela shifted from fashion to fine art, John Galliano elevated the brand to the height of couture with theatricality, corseted silhouettes and porcelain doll makeup.

STAR DESIGNER: Also the creative director of Diesel, Glenn Martens is one of contemporary fashion’s greatest innovators, using materials to deconstruct and reconstruct clothing into something wholly unique, particularly denim.

CURTAIN TIME: Martens made his Margiela debut with an Artisinal couture collection in July, carrying on the brand’s heritage spectacularly with polyurethane layers, molten metal eveningwear, patchworked and decaying effects, bejeweled masks and more delights.

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MARNI

MERYLL ROGGE

Initially an offshoot of Italian designer Consuelo Castiglioni’s family fur company, Marni became a standalone brand in 1999, carving out space in the luxury world for artsy elegant clothing with bold colors, prints and playful volumes. In recent years, Francesco Risso took the brand in a more eccentric direction with a side of social commentary.

STAR DESIGNER: Belgian designer Meryll Rogge, one of the few female designers to be newly heading a major European luxury fashion house. She gained experience at Marc Jacobs and Dries Van Noten before launching her own label known for its architectural shapes, clashing prints and vivid colors.

CURTAIN TIME: TBD

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VERSACE

DARIO VITALI

Gianni Versace established his brand in 1978, and became as famous as the celebrities he dressed in his baroque silk prints using elements of Greek mythology (Elton John was said to have owned a shirt in every print he ever made), metallic embellishments (as seen on the famous safety pin dress worn by Elizabeth Hurley) and body-conscious tailoring (a favorite of Princess Diana’s). After the designer’s murder in 1997, his sister Donatalla Versace took over as creative director; she’s now chief brand ambassador.

STAR DESIGNER: Dario Vitali, who played a big role in Miu Miu’s hot streak over the last two years, as the brand’s ready-to-wear director. Miu Miu parent company Prada acquired Versace shortly after Vitali took over as creative director.

CURTAIN TIME: A presentation will be held in September when the spring 2026 collections will be shown at Milan Fashion Week.