For his second couture presentation, Kevin Germanier leaned into instinct, embracing chaos and color with a clear-eyed sense of control. Titled “Les Joueuses”, the Fall-Winter 2025 collection charged the Haute Couture Week through with an unapologetic burst of play, texture, and reinvention. Germanier’s signature language of sculptural shapes and recycled glamour remains intact, but this season introduced a new register: spirited, rebellious, and above all, fun.
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Germanier opened the collection with looks embroidered entirely in his signature beaded weaving technique, but pushed beyond the expected with tactile explosions of raffia, saturated polka dots, and animal motifs warped into psychedelic abstraction. Shapes veered toward the theatrical, balloon dresses and exaggerated silhouettes collided with radiant palettes and a purposefully disjointed sense of proportion. One sculptural raffia dress, realized with Brazilian artist Gustavo Silvestre, stood as a totem to the collaborative ethos of the show.
Prints clashed, volumes inflated, and textures multiplied. Yet the show never lost direction. Instead, Germanier used these confrontations as choreography, guiding the viewer from light-hearted spectacle toward something deeper. A red balloon dress marked a tonal pivot, still luminous, but emotionally weighted. Then came a third balloon silhouette, featuring Hello Kitty, which playfully nodded to pop culture while never surrendering the couture framework. What followed was a gentle comedown, a studied reversal from chaos to clarity.
The final act of “Les Joueuses” shifted into precision and restraint. Leather looks previously seen on the Eurovision stage reappeared in reworked form, stress-tested by crystals and shaped with couture finesse. The show concluded not with a crescendo of volume, but with stillness: a sculpted gown crafted from recycled Japanese paper. No embellishment, no color, just a single form holding its own.
Sustainability, a core tenet of Germanier’s practice, found new expression in the materials and set. Balloons were salvaged from production rejects, feathers returned from previous seasons, and the entire set was designed to be repurposed as sequins next season. Every decision carried intention, a refusal to separate creativity from responsibility.
Global craftsmanship pulsed throughout the show, with contributions from Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Truyen, the Philippines’ Marco, and India’s Sachin, affirming Germanier’s role as both designer and connector. Though based in Paris and Switzerland, the house feels borderless in vision.
With “Les Joueuses”, Germanier proved that couture can carry joy without sacrificing rigour. In a time defined by uncertainty, his response is light, not as an escape, but as resistance. Through play, color, and collaboration, he continues to reshape what modern couture can look like: grounded in technique, alive with energy, and never afraid to have fun.
