Published
October 7, 2025
The four-week international fashion season ended on Tuesday with a big standalone show from Meryll Rogge, on the final day of Paris Fashion Week, where we also got to chat with a spacey aspic collection from Pierre Cardin and a joyous statement from Japanese brand Ujoh.
Meryll Rogge
Last but not least, Meryll Rogge finished the season with an unexpected, fresh and innovative collection that felt like a moment of liberation.
Presented within a courtyard combining medieval, Renaissance and neoclassical architecture within the Musée des Archives Nationales, a fitting setting for this collection. For the clothes mixed unusual light tweeds, contemporary travel photography, bold costume jewelery and moody rock moods.
Inspired by actress and writer Cookie Mueller’s cult biography “Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black,” the collection felt like a tour through the land of clubbing, bohemian beauty and nocturnal devilry.
Those of us who were lucky enough to grow up on the Lower East Side in the ’80s will always regard Cookie Mueller with special reverence. Seeing her aesthetic float through this collection was very special.
Tiny knits on pencil skirts; high-shine sleeveless parka dresses; or a beautiful white faux wedding dress with ruffles and layers. The last one, inspired by Nan Goldin’s famous photograph of Cookie at her wedding to the Italian artist Vittorio Scarpati in 1986. Both would die tragically of AIDS three years later.
In short, a great collection from the Belgian Rogge, who will debut her new night job next February with her first collection for Marni in Milan.
An even cooler show and cast with a fantastic selection of jewelry, courtesy of Wouters & Hendrix, an Antwerp resource who had previously worked with Dries Van Noten.
Thinking back to those late-night hours as a young Irish ingénue in the East Village, admiring Mueller in all his glory at the Mudd Club or Pyramid Bar, I can only conclude that Connie would have loved those clothes and her jewelry.
It speaks to an admirable way of bringing down the curtain on a unique runway season.
Pierre Cardin: outer space in gelatin
Space age fashion at Pierre Cardin, where a dozen stunning models walked before the show in shiny padded tights, high heels and cool visors. Intergalactic valkyries and skinny superheroes.
Setting the stage for a show inside the historic and magnificently located Pierre Cardin boutique, right in front of the Elysee Palace. The cast marched outside while dozens of CRS gendarmes and paramilitary police smiled and applauded. President Macron may be losing prime ministers, but five years after his passing, Pierre Cardin’s brand continues to advance.
Designed by his nephew Rodrigo Basílicati-Cardin, the collection played with many of the house’s codes: futuristic designs; studded finishes; graphic shapes.
Covering the collection with black, white, pink and green body tights: pink circles one meter in diameter; Imperial Roman Purple Spaceship Commander Robes; Padded waders in coral tones.
Lime green leaves were attached to the hips; giant, conjoined bowties hung from many necks. Graphic sixties shapes featured on soft vests and harnesses. And in a brave stunt, Rodrigo hung dozens of copper-toned magnetic mushrooms from a model.
Halfway through, four pre-teen children walked the green-carpeted runway, like the adults posing and doing pirouettes on several raised platforms. More than a dozen of Cardin’s relatives are still contesting the will that gave Rodrigo control of Pierre Cardin’s estate, in a case that is moving slowly through the French courts. But on the catwalk everything was sweetness and light with this family.
In truth, the collection seemed trapped in a time warp, as if it were made for a science fiction movie set in the 1960s. Although it is suspected that Pierre Cardin, who remained enormously proud of his designs in the 60s when they revolutionized fashion, would have liked this show more.
Ujoh: summer sadness
One felt transported to a sunny seaside resort at Ujoh’s latest show, as elements of candles, fishing nets, swimsuits and windbreakers floated across many looks.
Staged at the Saut du Loup exhibition space deep inside the Palais de Tokyo, the show began with loose-fitting admirals’ jackets open at one side, worn with fishnet skirts. The Ujoh design duo cut baggy trousers like those of Lord Nelson’s sailors and made others from fishnet lace or organza printed with aquatic creatures.
Often the best looks were the simplest ones, like belted, sleeveless trench dresses, or some easy-to-wear tunic dresses topped with huge matching bows.
In a mixed show, men wore technical cargo pants and short-sleeved sweatshirts with patch pockets, striped pajama shirts, and cute technical taffeta overalls; the last of which the models wore with great pride.
Founded in 2009 by designers Mitsuru and Aco Nishizaki, Ujoh is a slowly but enjoyable developing brand. Next stop: let summer arrive.
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