How to wear these key fashion trends like a pro fashionista.
Summer 2025 is delivering a delicious mix of polish and play. There’s French-girl ease, tactile textures and sculptural silhouettes that feel modern but wearable. Whether you’re planning warm-weather looks now or forecasting for the new year’s styling, these trends have real staying power.
1. Summer suede
It’s weird to think of wearing a suede item in the heat of summer, right? But in this scenario, it actually works! Think sun-kissed, touchable and luxe suede in sandy neutrals and caramel browns — for clothing and accessories. Fashion editors around the globe have flagged suede as a quiet-luxury material to watch this season. Expect refined, unstructured totes, slouchy pouches and belt bags in soft-grain suedes across the SS25 accessories landscape. To wear the trend, you’ll want to keep it light and breathable: a thin suede overshirt with a ribbed tank top; a knee-skimming suede skirt with a crisp men’s shirt; or simply switch your leather tote for a suede hobo bag.
Top tips
Balance suede’s warmth with cool fabrics, like linen shorts, poplin shirts or silk slip dresses, and finish with woven sandals or sleek flats. Protect with a good suede spray and don’t get it wet when it rains.
2. Classic French Chic
French women are famed for their effortless style, and this season they’ve inspired an aesthetic that’s all about tailored shorts suits, stripes, slingbacks, bow-blouses and nonchalant polish. On the Spring/Summer 2025 catwalks, Chanel reasserted the textbook formula with tweed short suits and leg-baring tailoring — practical, pretty and très Paris. Saint Laurent’s streamlined suiting and silk bow-blouses sharpened the look, while Jacquemus channelled French Riviera spirit with sun-drenched minimalism and sculpted details. From Pamela Anderson and Tyla to Bella Hadid, celebrities have kept the conversation about this look hot and happening. If you’re wondering how to style it, try a micro-tweed jacket with tailored shorts and slingback heels. Or swap the classic Breton stripes for a fine, sheer knit layered over a tonal camisole.
Top Tips
Keep your accessories on the quiet side; a chain-strap mini bag and black sunnies would work perfectly here. Hair and make-up should feel a little ‘undone, with glossy skin and blurred red lips.
3. Sculptural Minimalism
Architectural shapes, clever cuts and precision tailoring are what set this trend apart from the rest. It’s all about embracing clean lines, with a twist. Leading the trend, Loewe’s S/S25 show distilled designer Jonathan Anderson’s ‘radical reduction’ into curved, bouncing silhouettes that looked like wearable sculptures. Proenza Schouler and Ferragamo emphasised pure lines and impeccable cut in the form of quiet pieces with striking proportions. If you feel drawn to this look and feel, you can easily wear it in your own way. Choose one sculptural ‘moment’ — perhaps an origami-style skirt, asymmetric top or crisp column dress. Then keep everything else restrained. Hair slicked back or softly tucked behind ears, and leather thong sandals or square-toe mules will ground the look.
Top Tip
Opt for neutral palettes (ivory, butter, stone or black) and minimal jewellery (a single cuff or geometric earring).
4. Sheer layers
This summer we’re valuing transparency with intention! That is, sheer organza shirts, gauzy skirts over briefs, and chiffon blouses under tailored jackets. The sheer conversation was propelled this year, with Saint Laurent’s S/S25 runways and celebrity front rows doubling down; magazines from Harper’s Bazaar to Vogue have tracked its endurance on and off the red carpet. Bella Hadid and Zoe Kravitz are frequent references for how to do sheer with poise. To style it, think ‘a whisper of a hint’. Start with a sheer button-down shirt over a similarly toned bandeau top and tailored shorts, or a chiffon midi skirt over sleek briefs and worn with kitten heels.
Top tips
Keep your colours sophisticated (ink, chocolate or ivory) and add structure with a blazer or boxy waistcoat to offset the softness. Matte textures (suede and canvas) also temper the reveal.
5. Tennis Core 2.0
Country-club crispness meets street polish through pleated minis, polo knits, visor caps and classic white court sneakers updated in navy, cream and green. From Zendaya’s Challengers press-tour looks to a very fashion-forward US Open, tennis style hit critical mass in 2025. Courtside celebrities and players alike (Jessica Alba in Ralph Lauren, and Naomi Osaka’s jewel-toned kits) cemented TennisCore as both spectator and everyday dressing, according to Vogue. Like this aesthetic? It’s easy to pull off with key pieces. Anchor your look with one ‘court-like’ piece, such as a pleated skirt, a zip-front knit or a visor cap. Pair with city items such as a leather crossbody bag, tailored blazer or platform loafers. Remember to keep the palette clean (white, navy, forest, butter and yellow), and trade sporty sneakers for sleeker ones. For evening, swap the pleats for a ribbed tennis dress and add chandelier earrings.
Top Tip
Bowling-style bags or sporty ones with lots of pockets and zips are appropriate choices.
6. Liquid Metal
Think high-shine silver, pale gold and mercury sheens: soft, fluid and surprisingly neutral. At the forefront of this look, Rabanne remains the reference for chainmail and high-shine craftsmanship; the S/S25 runways across Prada, Versace and others echoed the metallic message. Red carpets from Cannes to the Toronto International Film Festival kept reflective finishes in rotation, while editors called metallics one of this summer’s defining trends. Here, you’ll need to treat metallics like a neutral. Try a slip skirt in silver with a white tee and minimalist sandals; or silver trousers with a cotton shirt and loafers. For night, a liquid-metal column dress needs only a slim cuff bangle and barely-there heels.
Top tip
Keep your make-up glowy but avoid going for anything too glittery.
7. Woven & raffia Accessories
We love basket bags, raffia mules and woven leather flats — ‘vacation textures’ refined for the city. The S/S25 accessories story is full of craft and Vogue’s handbag trend report put raffia and woven leather front and centre. Woven shoes, from Bottega’s knotted mules to Jacquemus’s slingbacks, dominated editorial lists and street style. The basket bag’s renaissance (thank you, Loewe) continues to define warm-weather wardrobes. To style it correctly, offset the texture of the bag with sleek tailoring in your clothing. Think a raffia tote with a linen-blend suit, or woven Mary Jane shoes with a slip dress and oversized blazer. Keep colours natural (ecru, tan and chocolate).
Top Tips
Add one glossy element, like a patent belt or enamel earrings, to modernise the boho roots. City-proof the look with leather trims and structured shapes.
Styling Matrix: Make It Yours
Colour Play:
Butter-yellow quietly ruled S/S25 as the season’s soft statement. Pair it with navy for Tennis core, with camel for French chic, or with silver for metallic modernity.
Proportions:
When silhouettes go sculptural, pare back everything else. If your top has architectural volume, choose a straight midi skirt or narrow pants; if your skirt is dramatic, pair it with a fitted vest or neat shirt on top.
Texture Balance:
Summer suede and raffia love crisp companions like poplin, linen or technical nylons. Sheer chiffon sits beautifully under a sharp blazer; metallics sing against matte cottons.
Footwear Update:
Woven flats, kitten-heel slingbacks, sleek tennis takkies and square-toe mules will work across most of these looks. Save ultra-chunky soles for casual days.
Jewellery & Bags:
Geometric cuffs and sculptural earrings echo the minimalism trend; chain-strap mini bags and basket bags cover city and beach. Metallic micro bags are perfect for a night out.
Words: Mia-Tess Smith and Lethabo Mncwanga
Photography: Gallo/Getty images
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