Saint Laurent, Prada & More Brands are De-Emphasizing the Waist for Fall 2025

Earlier this month, the U.K.-based fast-fashion brand PrettyLittleThing announced a rebrand. Gone are the days of skintight polyester bodysuits, slinky cutout dresses, and barely there bralettes. One of the greatest purveyors of BBL-based fashion made one message very clear with its pivot: the age of the hourglass is over.

But you didn’t need to follow PLT’s coming-of-age to know that. If you’ve had your eye on the fall 2025 runways, you’d already be well aware of the shift. It’s not just hourglass—apple and pear are out, too. The hottest new silhouette is block. This season, designers aren’t wasting any time emphasizing the waist.

Take Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, who put out a collection that called to mind the aesthetics of the video game Minecraft. In reality, the Belgian designer known for her utilitarian construction was influenced by the rigid structure of felt this season. “It acts as a garment, but also as a support,” she wrote in her show notes. The models walked in what looked like brutalist cocoons, the soft material providing contrast to its hard, armor effect. Elsewhere in the collection, electric-blue and cheetah-print skirts stretched beyond the confines of the human body—reaching just beneath the models’ breasts and extending toward the edges of their hips, creating a literal shield for the waist.

At MM6, the designs were similarly geometric. Removable padded hangers and adjustable back panels enlarged a polo shirt and dramatized the shape of a short trench, creating a protective element, just like at MAL, whose sharp corners acted like porcupine needles; the curves of a woman’s body were completely obstructed. A similar effect was achieved at Hodakova, where Ellen Hodakova Larsson placed one model in an actual cello while simultaneously showing off her kooky construction by turning pants into dresses, tops, and jackets. But these slacks weren’t high-waisted or low-waisted. They were waist-free.

While waists were void throughout the season, not everyone engaged in the trend with such rigidity. In New York, at her debut for Calvin Klein, Veronica Leoni provided a softer touch. A pink, off-the-shoulder dress that would be conventionally sexy if it hugged the body barely tapered in at all. Collarless blazers acted similarly while a red dress dropped so low, it turned the model into the boxy, rectangular bag she carried.

At Prada, Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada followed a similar line of thinking. The designers asked “What does femininity mean today? How can it be defined?” It turns out, their answer lies within the oversized. While once, women searched for a dress that fit like a glove, Prada suggested a more comfortable alternative, sending models down the runway in frocks that looked to be five sizes too big. The necklines fell just a hint too low, the shoulders dropped toward the arm, and the waist, having nothing to cling to, hung haphazardly at the midsection. Paper-bag skirts, similarly, added length to the body’s midsection.

It almost seems like Simons, Prada, and others engaging in the trend are responding—in their own way—to the Ozempificiation of culture. You’re going to slim down to extreme levels? Well, we’ll stop creating clothes that “show off” the medically induced physique. At Prada, specifically, the choice of ’50s-style dresses enlarged to eradicate any sex appeal also seemed like commentary on last year’s obsession with the “trad wife.” While that lunch-at-La-Côte-Basque look is inherently a covered-up one, the traditional midcentury silhouette did, historically, highlight a woman’s body. Simons’ and Mrs. Prada’s remix of it, however, moved in the complete opposite direction.

Elsewhere, the trend time traveled forward a few decades, with many designers bolstered by an ’80s tilt. Drop-waists were everywhere this season—at Balmain in zebra-print knits and at Vaquera with acid-washed leather jackets and prom-ready dresses. Stella McCartney, too (who held her show in a faux-corporate office) presented a collection fit for Gordon Gekko, featuring big wool coats and blazers.

Saint Laurent—which kickstarted an ’80s power suit trend last season returned to the decade for fall 2025. Anthony Vaccarello manipulated the woman’s body, creating new shapes that were heavy up top before slimming down by the legs. Any chance of a waist sneaking in was ruined by side pockets. It is clear Vaccarello was concealing the model’s midsection, promoting a different idea of beauty. Instead of idolizing a 23-inch waist, what if we found strength in broad shoulders? Or elegance in a long torso? These designs transfer the power of the gaze to the wearer, but they also imbue her with the power of choice. She can take off her shield if she wants to, but only when she’s ready.

Not all designers ditched waist definition this season, however. At Tom Ford, Haider Ackermann unleashed the brand’s signature sexiness during his debut, standing out with slim tailoring amid the sea of oversize. Even within collections like Balmain and McCartney’s, there were designs that highlighted the midsection, creating even more dichotomy against those which did not. In comparison to their blockish garments, the A-line skirts and cropped tops almost felt antiquated—so very 2024. This embrace of a new shape—one that feels rooted in women’s autonomy at a time when our freedoms are up in the air—is not only appropriate, it’s necessary.