AW 25-26 Decodings: Leather The 8 July 2024 - Automne-Hiver 25-26 - Leather - Leather - Première Vision Paris

This season, tanners and leatherworkers go back to basics with leathers that pay homage to their origins. Lively, noble and durable, they proudly display their intrinsic imperfections as star qualities.

The Autumn-Winter 25-26 season invites us to reconcile distant, even opposing worldviews. In leather, this tension plays out in the exploration of two distinct yet complementary creative paths: Luxurious Minimalism and High Fantasy.

Perfect Equilibrium

For Autumn-Winter 25-26, minimalism breaks with its classic, austere side. The season’s leathers transcend pure simplification, striking a Perfect Equilibrium.

The season’s emblematic leathers embrace pure harmony.
Nappas and box leathers adopt lighter, more supple qualities. Combining strength and malleability, these leathers thrive on large-format leather goods, such as hobos whose very structures are formed through the material. Roundness and structure combine on revisited smocks and other workwear classics with a minimalist, luxurious twist.
With their characteristic shine tempered for a warmer feel, box leathers come in deeper shades with subtle surface effects. Nourished, waxed aspects and smooth surfaces enhance their sensorial quality.

Full hands are also in the spotlight this season, with soft leathers offering enhanced comfort for all uses. Nourished bases in airy weights with visible, enhanced grains come in a palette of delicate pastels, for leathers with a comforting softness.
Among the season’s highlights are leathers with a matte aspect, spread over surfaces with sanded full-grain finishes; nubuck leathers with peach skin-soft suede handles; and shaved sheepskin hides with a velvety down effect.

The quest for perfection is also explored from a more rigorous, almost mathematical angle. Small, regular motifs adorn leathers and skins with subtle repetitive patterns. From braided or quilted leathers to partially-shaved sheepskin hides, materials are adorned with geometric patterns. Straight or circular, they come in monochrome or pale color combinations. These developments bridge the gap between the naturalness of leather and digital influences, evoking a precise, delicate take on 3D.

High Fantasy

Imbued with a high-end and creative fantasy mood, Autumn-Winter 25-26 leathers push the boundaries, catering to the desire for newness, extravagance and bold visual impact.

Warm & silky reflections

Patent leathers, now a staple of the leather category, are moving away from mirror-like lacquered aspects toward a Make-Up vibe, evoking the silky finesse of cosmetic glosses. Preserving their grain, these lively and sophisticated lacquered surfaces lend themselves to more versatile uses.
Metallic finishes display sheens recalling silk fabrics and skins are fine, dense and springy. More elusive, they move with the fluidity of satin.
The silky influence also carries over to ultra-fine full-grain lambskins. With their finesse, suppleness and papery handles, these leathers lend themselves to couture-inspired flourishes, such as pleats, bows or drapes.

Faux Velvets & Furs

The traditional fur look continues to seduce, with more and more convincing alternatives hitting the market over the past few years, notably in sheepskins.
Thanks to dyeing, shaving and wool treatments, these faux furs perfectly mimic the category’s icons, such as mink or astrakhan.
The classic ennobling techniques of fur are also reinterpreted in sheepskins, with two-tone chromatic effects and intarsia-style assemblies and embellishments.
Leathers are also borrowing aspects and behaviors from textiles to broaden their offer for garments. Velvet leathers and downy aspects are even used to imitate textile weaves, such as velvet purl or corduroy, creating true optical illusions.

Focus: French Tanners x Les Teintures de France

This season, Première Vision has chosen to honor French Tanners with a special project, in partnership with local finishing specialist Les Teintures de France.

Working with warm-hued leather samples provided by a selection of French tanners known for their unique savoir-faire, Teintures de France have let their creativity and mastery of finishing shine through.

Full-grain calves, dipped lambskins and fish skins enhanced by a range of techniques, including fine decorations using engraving or laser cutting, optical embellishments using 3D printing and ornamentation using Coloreel digital embroidery.

The initiative, conducted as a creative and experimental laboratory, pushes the creative limits of decorating and finishing, offering new ways of exploring fantasy in leather while preserving the emblematic character of the material.