Ludovic de Saint Sernin SS25 / Spring/Summer 2025 at Paris Fashion Week

For Spring/Summer 2025, Ludovic de Saint Sernin takes the sartorial language of dance as a point of departure. The flowing gowns worn by the Tanztheater Wuppertal across Pina Bausch’s œuvre; Rudolf Nureyev’s emblematic outfits both in the studio and on stage; Robert Mapplethorpe’s prolific documentation of professional dancers… here, the designer teases out the artistic medium’s intrinsic tension between statuesque poise and carnal flair. Assumptions of properness are playfully subverted through the designer’s libidinal design sensibility – ballet staples pirouette into the territory of bondage, with innocence and eros distilled into each look.

Details of Ludovic de Saint Sernin Spring/Summer 2025 / SS25, Fabrics express a sense of dancerly movement, with raw-edged jackets composed of fluttering layers of virgin wool. Low-slung leather briefs feature quivering ostrich plumes, while vests and boleros are painstakingly embroidered with artfully arranged goose feathers.

In virginal white and ink black, they express the Black Swan duality at Ludovic de Saint Sernin SS25 collection’s heart – not to mention the designer’s obsession with meticulous craft, a quality that will take centre stage in Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s forthcoming haute couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier.

Highlight of Ludovic de Saint Sernin Spring/Summer 2025 / SS25, Layered jersey tank tops come in gossamer tawny chiffon, or are reimagined in filmy white cotton, constructed with knotted harness necklines. Side-laced training shorts and a leotard are constructed in leather, the latter featuring sensuous hipbone-baring cutouts and Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s signature eyelet trim. Chocolate leather bralettes descend into grommeted coils that snake around the body, revealing peeks of skin beneath. They’re worn with puddling mermaid skirts in pastel metal mesh and translucent sequinned chiffon.

Brand signatures are both subtly reimagined – the lace-up closures on denim jeans are replaced with a traditional button fly; the bands of calfskin wrap skirt are laced without the band’s signature hardware detailing – and doubled down on. Sheath dresses and trousers are constructed using

Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s inimitable laced strap technique, and eyelet-studded chaps emanate leather bar sleaze, an intrinsic feature of the brand lexicon. Layered under amply cut trench coats and bomber jackets in suede, each look is for the journey from the dance rehearsal to the darkroom.

This SS25 collection, in lieu of a fashion show, Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s vision is brought to life through an evocative image series. Lensed by Adam Peter Johnson, the high-contrast shots of balletic poses are imbued with an arresting severity, while Carlos Nazario’s styling brings an air of nonchalant elegance to even the most daring of pieces. In its ensemble, the pictures bear out the delicate interplay of light and dark – the innocent and the erotic – at the heart of Ludovic de Saint Sernin.

Ludovic de Saint Sernin Spring/Summer 2025 / SS25 by Ludovic de Saint Sernin. Credit to: Photographer Adam Peter Johnson, Styling Carlos Nazario, Casting Piergiorgio Del Moro, Models Stella Hanan – Kirill Romanenko – Yar Aguer – Lara Menezes – Nico Charlent – Sascha Rajasalu, Hair Jawara Wauchope, Make-up Thierry Do Nascimiento, Art Direction Ljbtn Studio, PR Agency Lucien Pages Communication.