Winner Takes All: The boldest, most creative runway collections of winter, fall fashion

(By Desiree Gonzalez/Daily Bruin)



By Eric Sican, Izzy De Leon, Natalie Ralston, Viva Wertz, Reid Sperisen, and Puja Anand
Jan. 19, 2025 11:16 a.m.
This post was updated Jan. 26 at 8:51 p.m.
As the fall/winter 2024-2025 fashion season reaches its dramatic crescendo, the industry reflects on a season of bold visions and fierce creativity.
With the runways now behind us and the year drawn to a close, a captivating array of collections have emerged, each staking its claim for dominance. From avant-garde silhouettes to nostalgic reinventions, the designs of the 2024-2025 season have sparked intense debates and stolen the spotlight. In this moment of fashion’s grand reckoning, the Daily Bruin offers a careful examination, revealing which collection has truly seized the mantle, commanding both attention and acclaim in a season that was nothing short of legendary.

Miu Miu
Miu Miu’s fall/winter 2025 collection is stunningly versatile.
Founded by designer and businesswoman Miuccia Prada in 1992, Miu Miu is the sister brand of Prada, a household name in fashion. Characterized by its fresh designs and street-wear flare, Miu Miu caters to a younger demographic than Prada and procures more affordable designs. Debuted during Paris Fashion Week in 2006, Miu Miu’s newest collection features intense, adaptable and adventurous styles.
Miu Miu, a rebellious and seductive label, marries youthful, slightly avant-garde designs with traditional, classic fashion. Perfectly tasteful and wearable, this collection reimagines staple designs such as fur coats, trench coats and the little black dress. Through daring hip and chest cut-outs and unique unisex silhouettes, Miu Miu curated an array of trench coats, denim pieces, puffed pleated skirts with large pockets, midi dresses, fur coats, sweaters and puffers.
Incorporating the classic six-button front in designs of different textures, fabrics and colors, these pieces can be worn for any occasion. Once again intertwining tradition with boldness, the colors of these Miu Miu pieces are mostly muted and consistent with cooler, more common winter blues and grays with pops of orange, dusty red and yellow. The styling of this collection – layered hems, popping collars, bright tights and leather purses – elevates it to the next level.
This Miu Miu collection is daring, elegant and genius; it gives new life to classic designs and showcases the diverse ways streetwear can be dressed up or down.
– Izzy De Leon

Mugler
Mugler is bringing back its fiery theatrics one catwalk at a time.
After a series of fashion directors temporarily tarnished Mugler’s iconic reputation with slapstick collections in the early 2000s, current Fashion Director Casey Cadwallader put the brand back on the map with his fall/winter 2024 show. Featuring acclaimed models Alex Consani and Precious Lee, Mugler spared no expense on the runway. Paying homage to the haute couture show from 1995 – which made Mugler a household name – Cadwallader reconfigured the futuristic visuals and sharp silhouettes reminiscent of the brand’s signature designs.
Mugler presented their histrionic 2024 lookbook at Cirque d’Hiver in Paris – a literal circus. With probing lights, draping curtains and aberrant visuals, the show presented more like an avant-garde theater than a catwalk, an eccentric touch necessary to make customers believe in Mugler again. With sheer elements, structural garments, belted accessories and a gothic edge, Cadwallader designed a series of timeless pieces for every wardrobe. Perhaps the most unsuspectingly stunning piece of the collection is the only white dress with gold metal straps – revealed after a dramatic curtain drop – for its daring simplicity and sheer silhouette. From vibrant yellow and red-textured ensembles to mesh elements and dark, muted hues, Mugler’s fall/winter closet offers a piece for everyone to wear.
Mugler’s fierce return to the runway promises an auspicious series of future collections that are sure to leave audiences wanting more.
– Natalie Ralston

Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood’s fall/winter 2024 collection is revamping plaid, and it’s hot. Check it.
Vivienne Westwood, esteemed for its avant-garde approach to traditional English fashion, originated in late 1960s London by designers Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren. Inspired by rebellion and 1950s subcultures, the two experimented with punk fashion, describing their 1974 brand Sex as “rubberwear in the office.” The brand challenged both fashion and politics, even leading to Westwood and McLaren’s prosecution in 1975 for their vulgar graphic T-shirt collection featuring a shirt with a swastika, an inverted print of Christ on the cross and the word “destroy” in bold to condemn dictatorship. Though considered outlandish and disruptive at the time, Vivienne Westwood is now a world-renowned brand that pioneers trends each season.
Staying true to its origin, Vivienne Westwood’s fall/winter 2024 collection puts a punk twist on formal English fashion. Think eccentric plaid blazers, mama. The collection features dramatic takes on formal looks, such as plaid leggings and tights with black platform heels, scoop-neck dress vests paired with tight patterned under-shirts and dark grey pinstriped dresses and skirts with hints of a bustle. The color story, consisting mainly of auburn, teal, baby blue, navy green, purple and plum, reads as regal with a bit of a bite. The styling includes chunky plaid headbands and belts, crown braids and slick-back buns matched with dangly pearl earrings, accenting the looks with a chic edge.
With this collection, Vivienne Westwood continues to redefine tradition with its bold, punk-esque designs and proves once again that rebellion – and plaid, of course – never goes out of style.
– Viva Wertz

Gucci
The house of Gucci continues to curate collections with flair and memorability.
The iconic Italian fashion brand’s fall/winter 2024 collection exemplifies a blending of nostalgic stylings with modern sophistication to create a plethora of desirable autumnal outfits. Elements of the 1970s such as mini-scarves can be seen, although several of the looks are immediately reminiscent of the work of Tom Ford – which makes sense, considering not only the ongoing wave of 1990s inspiration in contemporary fashion but also the fact that Ford was Gucci’s creative director from 1994 to 2004. Knee-high and thigh-high boots in dark shades such as burgundy are a recurring motif for a large portion of the designs, and almost all of the looks are accessorized with statement-making choker necklaces.
One of the most exciting elements of the collection is the variation in the use of the color green across countless eye-catching hues and several different lace and leather fabrics. A myriad of silhouettes – from oversized trench coats to comparatively close-fitting skirts – maintain the luxuriousness that the Gucci brand has become synonymous with while offering flexibility and versatility for models and potential customers. Likewise, suits and bomber jackets as well as sheer dresses capture the Gucci label’s attention to detail and glamorous embellishments.
By weaving in elements of the past with threads of the future, Gucci continues to thread elevated and unforgettable seasonal designs.
– Reid Sperisen

Dolce and Gabbana
Dolce and Gabbana is challenging the limits of femininity.
The acclaimed Italian design duo have outdone themselves in their fall/winter 2024 collection, securing their seats as international leaders of fashion. An ode to the power of the feminine silhouette, the all-woman show played with the multiplicity of womankind, from elegant vulnerability to unapologetic strength. With influences from the timeless pop icon Madonna, Dolce and Gabbana explore a fresh take on self-expression, each look a bold feminine snapshot.
Black commanded the line’s palette in all its versatility, draping the women in tuxedos and shining in sensual chest cut-outs while pops of silver, gold and luxurious fur coats lent pizazz to the collection. Despite the season, numerous looks adopted shorts and mini dresses to declare year-round wearability. The collection seamlessly balanced power with grace, building an intriguing rapport between cloth and skin – floor-length suits adorned bared legs while nostalgic corporate trousers sat below daringly visible lace underwear. The designers paid tribute to the past with berets and bowties, a reminiscent backdrop to their modern vision. The final stitch on the masterclass in the ever-changing image of women were lace veils that gently covered each model’s face, embellishing the facade with a touch of mystique.
Dolce and Gabbana are boldly trudging into the awaiting future, a future ready for their revolutionary design.
– Puja Anand