The 6 Dress Trends That Are Taking Center Stage for Fall 2025

Now that we've had time to digest the fall/winter 2025 collections fully, there's so much to discuss. This season marks an evolution in several overarching themes that we've been seeing play out in fashion so far this year. The bohemian renaissance isn't going away anytime soon, but is instead shifting into moodier and more gothic territory. As for sophisticated 1950s silhouettes, designers played with more undone versions of ladylike style. The result is a new batch of dress trends that are set to define the season ahead.

The exact silhouettes that will have the biggest impact this season? Per Chloé, romantic ruffles will still be going strong, but satin slip dresses are now set to define the modern boho movement for the rest of 2025. On the other end of the spectrum, rich velvet and autumnal check prints are both making seasonal returns thanks to cosigns from Burberry and Ralph Lauren. All in all, consider this list your North Star for all things dress silhouettes and continue to get your fill of the major trends to know for fall 2025.

Across the runways, designers returned to the classic slip dress in all its varying interpretations. At Miu Miu, that meant taking traditional slip dresses that, back in the day, were designed to be obscured underneath a more formal outfit and highlighting them as the look itself. Meanwhile, at Chloé, slips arrived in light pastel tones and with delicate lace trimming on the neckline or hemline. But designers like Frances Howie at Fforme also presented a minimal and modern take with slinky satin numbers that speak for themselves.

If 2025 has thus far been defined by romantic fashion, then the latter half of the year will bring a much moodier, even gothic, evolution. For fall, designers reimagined romantic dressing with a dark all-black palette and silhouettes that deployed lace and sheer details. Fendi was one major source of lace looks, but instead of a soft and naive type of romanticism, Silvia Venturini Fendi's vision was one of maturity and self-assuredness.

Traditional autumnal codes are seeping back into the fashion lexicon this season, and the leaders among them are check prints. We've already noted how plaid shirts have become the surprising calling card for people with chic taste, and for fall, designers including Brandon Maxwell, Ralph Lauren, and Bally are ensuring that a plaid or checkered dress will likewise be the must-have piece.

Usually soft pastel tones fall by the wayside when summer officially winds down in September, but soft blush is one color trend that's remaining on top throughout next season (and likely into 2026). The fall runways were replete with washes of pink that were so faint as to be almost barely there, from the sheer ruffled concoctions at Chloé to Fendi's near flesh-colored tones.

Another stereotype of cold-weather dressing is also on the docket this season with fall's incoming wave of velvet dresses.

If you haven't gotten the memo yet, romance is the buzzword for fall 2025. Softer silhouettes and feminine details are everywhere we look right now, and second only to lace are ruffles. Chloé can certainly be credited with reestablishing ruffled dresses into our wardrobes, but this season, even more designers followed suit with soft, romantic ruffles that appeared on sweeping maxi dresses.