The First Dries Van Noten Collection Without Dries Is Actually Very Dries
Fall/Winter 2025 is Julian Klausner’s first showing at the creative helm of Dries Van Noten. However, this certainly isn’t his first time working on a Dries Van Noten collection.
The 33-year-old designer, Dries Van Noten’s first creative director following its founder's retirement last year, has been part of the house’s womenswear team since 2018.
He’s a seasoned member of DvN’s design studio, helping craft the house’s design language for over half a decade. And now that he’s the main man in charge of the brand’s vision, he isn’t abandoning those signature Dries design codes, he’s exaggerating them.
Dries might have gone, but the Dries-isms live on.
For example, bold, colorful prints are arguably the defining feature of any Dries collection, and Fall/Winter 2025 has them in excess.
A dotted pattern, an uneven dye, a sparkly knit, and an all-over printed green satin fabric… that’s all combined in just one look. Van Noten’s ability to skillfully combine clashing patterns was clearly passed down to Klausner.
Then there are the materials: cotton thread tassels layered alongside patchworked-together fabric, almost like a gloriously chaotic act of bricolage, or hairy fabrics creating Cruella De Vil-style outerwear.
You could never describe a Dries Van Noten collection as minimal (or boring), but this was especially in-your-face. Everything felt amped up to a new extreme.
Julian Klausner is taking the brand's maximalist inclinations and doubling down on them.
