In the often shadowed and serious terrain of Fall/Winter collections, Kevin Germanier staged a radical act of joy. His FW25–26 Haute Couture collection, titled The Players, wasn’t just a fashion show—it was a chromatic revolution, a kaleidoscopic burst of rebellion set in the cavernous depths of IRCAM, Paris’s famed institute for experimental sound. It was underground in location, but sky-high in spirit.

From the moment guests descended into the sci-fi dreamworld—complete with glowing inflatable sculptures and front-row cameos by Hello Kitty and Kuromi in custom looks—it was clear that Germanier came not to whisper, but to roar. Playfulness, performance, and unapologetic color reigned supreme, pushing against the industry’s lean toward dystopia with pure, unfiltered joy.

But make no mistake: beneath the glittering surface lay serious craftsmanship and serious sustainability. As ever, Germanier wielded upcycling not as compromise, but as creative weaponry. Plastic bottles became molten couture art in collaboration with Vietnamese artisan Nguyen Tien Truyen. Pom-pom gowns were woven from repurposed plastic bags, thanks to Brazilian eco-visionary Gustavo Silvestre. These weren’t DIY dreams—they were symphonies of texture, motion, and global ingenuity.

There was an otherworldly energy in the silhouettes: ballooned hips, spiked trains, tinsel flourishes, crystal crusted leather, feathered helmets. Each piece performed. Each look moved like it had its own pulse. Volume was the message; delight was the medium. Even the quietest color moments shimmered under stage lights, like restrained rebellion in couture form.

One of the most subversive touches? Biker jackets sourced from Vinted, reborn in iridescent glory and paired with feathered helmets, nodding to Germanier’s expanding universe—from Eurovision costumes to his upcoming spotlight at the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony. This wasn’t couture locked in a salon—it was alive, mobile, and culturally plugged in.

And then came the finale: drag icon Gigi Goode, walking in a wedding gown spun from recycled Japanese paper, a fragile, futuristic relic from a planet where joy is sacred and nothing goes to waste. It closed the show on a whisper and a wink—delicate, irreverent, unforgettable.

In a season steeped in introspection, Germanier offered exhalation. His FW25–26 collection was not just a fantasy—it was a manifesto. A declaration that sustainability can shimmer, that joy can be radical, and that couture, at its best, still has the power to reimagine our world.