Henri Alexander Levy’s Fall/Winter 2025 show for Enfants Riches Déprimés opened with a cardboard tank rolling through a Paris gym, flanked by children clutching toys and miniature versions of the brand’s sharp-shouldered tailoring. The scene felt like a fever dream-playful yet unsettling, a contradiction that mirrors the designer’s own creative tug-of-war. Levy, who insists he avoids overt politics, framed the collection as a reflection of internal battles: instinct versus discipline, rebellion versus structure, and the struggle of an independent label to navigate an industry dominated by conglomerates.
Backstage, Levy likened his runway presentations to short films, a medium he turned to after finding traditional shows lacking in spirit. For Fall/Winter 2025, the cinematic references were palpable. Models walked as gentleman pirates in velvet capelets, wayward schoolgirls in sassy skirts and thigh-high tights, and brooding rebels in billowing leather coats. Velvet anchored the lineup, opening with a black chiffon skirt under a capelet and closing with a burgundy evening gown with a bold slit at the front – a red-carpet-ready piece. Between these bookends were skinny leather trousers, artfully distressed jackets, and accessories like an ornate silver belt fastened with a pin that nodded to Levy’s love of jewelry.
The designer’s inspirations ranged from art brut and primitive art to the ornate flourishes of the Vienna Secession. Yet the garments never felt like costumes. Instead, they hinted at wearable rebellion: a boxcase-leather doctor’s bag embedded with a Patek Philippe watch, school-uniform plaids twisted into asymmetrical hems, and tulle veils that shadowed the models’ faces. Levy’s Parisian roots-he splits his time between the Enfants Riches Déprimés boutique on Rue Charlot and a nearby art book and vinyl bar-grounded the fantasy. His understanding of the city’s gritty elegance lent depth to pieces that could easily be translated to New York or Los Angeles, where his cult following thrives.
Still, questions remain. While the show’s theatricality was captivating, some looks bordered on the overly dramatic, risking alienation from practical dressers. Levy’s strength lies in his ability to channel subversion into subtlety: a frayed hem, a slouched boot, a jacket cut with military precision but softened by a crumpled collar. It is these details, not the tank or the toy props, that resonate as the true rebellion. As the show notes explain, “beauty remains in the quiet resilience of those who refuse to be swallowed by despair.” For Enfants Riches Déprimés, Fall/Winter 2025 suggests that resilience lies not in grand gestures, but in the quiet defiance of a perfectly imperfect stitch.
©Photo: Enfants Riches Déprimés