Thom Browne Fall Winter 2025-2026 “Origami – A Flight of Fancy and Freedom”. Story by RUNWAY MAGAZINE. Photo Courtesy: Thom Browne.
Thom Browne is no stranger to the art of storytelling, and for Fall Winter 2025-2026, he takes flight—quite literally—into a world of ornithological reverie. Within a set adorned with 2,000 origami birds, the show opened with two models perched at a central table, engaged in the delicate craft of folding paper birds. This was no mere aesthetic flourish. It was a scene steeped in symbolism, one that set the tone for a collection that sought to explore notions of freedom, creativity, and resilience.
Browne’s fascination with birds is not new. Last year, he channeled Edgar Allan Poe’s ominous raven; this season, he found inspiration in a 60 Minutes segment on birdwatching. But this was no melancholic meditation on the passage of time. Instead, Browne’s avian motif was a declaration of personal expression, a quiet but potent act of defiance against a world that increasingly seeks to dictate creative boundaries. It morphed into the idea of freedom to be as expressive and as creative.
The theme of flight and fragility was woven into the collection with meticulous precision. The opening looks—a study in subdued greys—featured oversized waterproof cashmere parkas enveloping models in protective cocoons, juxtaposed with shrunken patch pocket jackets, mini shorts in wool flannel, and four-bar v-neck cardigans. Thigh-high wader boots in light grey and white suede completed the ensembles, suggesting both a preparedness for uncertain terrain and a willingness to wade through the storm. But while the opening palette might have suggested a restrained, almost monastic approach, the collection soon revealed itself as one of Browne’s most colorful offerings in recent memory.
The designer’s commitment to his avian theme extended beyond the literal. Silhouettes mimicked the soft, rounded contours of a bird’s breast and shoulders, while textural contrasts created the illusion of layered feathers. Browne pushed craftsmanship to the extreme with exquisite bird embroideries and intarsias inspired by John James Audubon’s ornithological studies. These intricate embellishments adorned oversized coats in heritage tweeds, a material Browne deliberately selected for its association with timeless, hard-wearing elegance.
Yet, it was in the eveningwear that Browne’s vision truly soared. Color-blocked dresses, constructed from bias-cut satin panels, were arranged with the precision of a bird’s plumage, each layer overlapping seamlessly. In a particularly audacious move, the designer rendered this concept in thick, painterly strokes, their abstract forms evoking—perhaps intentionally—bird droppings. This irreverent touch was more than a joke; it was a subtle nod to a long-standing Thom Browne house code. Bird shit is a Thom Browne house code.
Humor aside, the deeper message of the collection remained clear. In an industry fraught with instability—where designers are shuffled between houses with increasing speed and creative autonomy is often sacrificed for commercial viability—Browne made an understated yet powerful statement. His work this season stood as a testament to the necessity of artistic freedom, a reminder that fashion, though unable to fix the world, can still carve out spaces for expression and hope.
And then there was that birdcage, placed on the central table, containing a miniature version of Browne himself.
See All Looks Thom Browne Fall Winter 2025-2026
