Paris Fashion Week Menswear SS25: The luxury streetwear trend, from Virgil Abloh to the Paris Olympics

From selling deadstock Ralph Lauren shirts with a ‘Pyrex Vision’ label in 2012, to designing the Louis Vuitton menswear collections from 2018 to 2021, Virgil Abloh’s impact on luxury streetwear fashion cannot be overstated. He was the master of creating a style that worked year-round and was gender fluid.

Now, almost three years after his untimely death, Abloh’s ability to merge high end fashion with sporty street looks, still influences contemporary menswear. Nowhere was this more evident than during the recent edition of the Paris SS25 menswear collections, where Abloh-inspired looks will resonate long after the upcoming 33rd edition of the Olympic Games is over.

Paris SS25 menswear collections

Like Abloh, Kenzo’s creative director, Nigo is also well versed in how to give athleisure and streetwear looks a luxury spin. Despite some controversy concerning his tenure, at the end of his SS25 show, Nigo’s business partner at the Billionaire Boys Club and Abloh’s successor at Vuitton, Pharrell Williams, lept to his feet and gave the Japanese multi-hyphenate a standing ovation. It was an endorsement for the whole fashion crowd to acknowledge. Williams himself admitted to being inspired by the Olympics when he began shaping the Vuitton SS25 men’s collection.

In other shows, Ryota Iwai, known for producing his own fabrics for Auralee, said he was influenced by the sort of after-work athleisure looks people wear in city parks. Meanwhile, British designers, Bianca Saunders and Grace Wales Bonner both added some shine to their sporty-looking collections. Wales Bonner introduced a black-sequined Adidas sneaker, while Saunders showed track pants covered in blue sequins.

Here are more streetwear highlights from PFW SS25.

Kenzo: designer, Nigo

Look 22: a light green leather baseball jacket with cream-colored sleeves, cream and orange athletic trim and a cartoon tiger head patch, over an embellished string tee with dark denim jeans, a western belt and rubber-toed sneakers.

Auralee: designer, Ryota Iwai

Look 27: a mint green pullover and short shorts in a technical fabric were shown over a plaid shirt and under a grey blouson jacket. Accessories included a checkered neckerchief, socks and sneakers.

Wales Bonner

Look 24: a cream-colored hooded windcheater with snap fasteners and matching dolphin shorts over a string tank top. Accessories included black sequined Adidas sneakers and a brown leather carryall.

Bianca Saunders

Look 10: blue sequin track pants and a white sleeveless tee with a blue logo and turquoise leather slip-on shoes.

Louis Vuitton: designer, Pharrell Williams

Look 57: a short-sleeved soccer shirt in red and beige stripes and olive green color blocks with an athletic ribbed collar and white LV logos. This was paired with a beige all-in-one with zippers and cargo pockets. Accessories included a lime green ‘Speedy’ crossbody bag, gold jewelry and oval shaped brown sunglasses.

8ON8: designer, Li Gong

Look 18: a thermal knit zip up jacket and matching shorts in a pale pastel ombré with a ‘sandboarding’ logo. Sneakers and a red patent turban finished the look.

C.R.E.O.L.E: designer, Vincent Frederic-Colombo

Look 13: a green knit pullover over a sheer top with a red, yellow and purple athletic rib collar and sleeves was shown with terracotta-colored shorts, white socks and desert shoes.

Bluemarble: designer, Anthony Alvarez

Look 12: a grey hoodie with a kangaroo pocket, butterfly print and ‘Blue’ logo was shown with camo cargo pants in brown, orange and lime green. Neon green sandals completed the look.

Doublet: designer, Masayuki Ino

Look 14: an oversized boiled wool ‘letterman’ jacket in navy and yellow with a zippered hood was shown with patchworked denim jeans and sneakers with rubber spikes.

Masu: designer, Shinpei Goto

Look 17: a beige baseball jacket with brown and cream athletic trim and stenciled letters and motifs was shown with olive khaki shorts in a technical fabric. Accessories included an ivy-strewn red baseball cap, pink thong sandals and canvas and leather navy and red carryall.

Undercover: designer, Jun Takahashi

Look 6: a burgundy knit polo top and pants with drawstring ankle ties, blue patent lace ups, a blue beaded necklace, an ‘evil eye’ pendant; a blue lace eye covering and a gold tiara.

Lazoschmidl: designers, Josef Lazo and Andreas Schmidl

Look 11: a tight-fit black long sleeved semi-sheer tee with a photo of a man with a kitten and the ‘let’s create magic together’ slogan was shown with white shorts and pink and black flip-flops.