Marie Adam Leenaerdt AW25

It was a long walk to the show venue and I didn't feel like looking at my phone for directions anymore. It was like the universe heard my thought and sent me my very own white rabbit. I heard the clickety-clack of red leather heels, followed them up to a woman in a long overcoat and a large leather clutch. It was obvious that if I followed her, I'd surely arrive at the show. With my hair pulled back in a bun by my trusty black velvet scrunchie, I kept up with her fierce speed and arrived just in time. The venue was absolutely packed. Every square inch of the place had a phone camera ready to go. I fought hard for a vantage point and waited for the show to begin.

Known for her architectural rigor, Marie Adam Leenaerdt delivered a lineup that felt like walking through a living blueprint, where every seam whispered intention and every fold defied convention. Square shapes dominated, their bold, rigid lines rejecting curves in favor of a stark, almost industrial elegance. Adam-Leenaerdt played with reversibility like a magician: skirts inverted, trenches buttoned at the back, and collars migrated to hems. A "framework" approach, raw felt bases layered with pops of leopard print and scattered bows, revealed the process of design as much as the final product. The show’s invitation, featuring two nearly identical euro coins, hinted at this tension between uniformity and subtle rebellion.

In a season obsessed with deconstruction, Adam-Leenaerdt stood apart by constructing, building silhouettes that felt engineered yet alive. Her collection didn’t just challenge norms, it redefined them, offering a future where fashion is as much about structure as it is about soul. If Zomer (showing nearby) turned fashion backward, Adam-Leenaerdt marched it forward, one geometric masterpiece at a time. As I fought for my place in the mass exodus after the show I realized my hair had loosened and my scrunchie had been lost. I felt it was somehow poetic that as I took a piece of Marie Adam Leenaerdt with me as I left, I also left a piece of me behind.