Yahoo Lifestyle Jeanne Friot Is Battle-ready for Fall 2025
Last summer, Jeanne Friot was one of a handful of young French designers showcased during the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympic Games. Her look, inspired by Joan of Arc, was the starting point for her battle-ready genderless fall collection.
“I wanted to develop the story,” said the designer, who shares the French first name of the historic heroine, backstage before her show. “There was a lot we could dig into. There are few historic feminine figures, and she is one of them.”
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Friot sees her fashion as a political message and has long championed upcycling. Here, she explored the notion of armor in a multiplicity of ways. Her signature belt motif featured on stompy over-the-knee boots, as a print on tulle sheath dresses, as the straps on sexy pinafore dresses or all over, as on the fine bustier dress in mirror-like leather, echoing her collaboration with master craftsman Robert Mercier for the Olympics. For more everyday body protection, sportswear pieces were developed in silver jersey and black denim reinforced with red seam details.
Dominated by red, black and silver, the collection was scattered with slogan T-shirts and kilts in varying lengths.
A collaboration with Levi’s — Friot has incorporated upcycled jeans in her collections since the beginning, but this was the first time she has been officially endorsed by the brand — resulted in black 501s trimmed with red fur or a total look covered with hundreds of buttons, both utilitarian and decorative.
Friot has benefited from the increased recent exposure. “We’ve grown the team, we’ve exploded on Instagram and in the press, and we’ve had a 50 percent sales increase; it’s been a major accelerator,” she said. “For the first time in five years, I know I’ll be able to pay everyone and that we can produce the next collection.”
Launch Gallery: Jeanne Friot Fall 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection
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