Bora Aksu Autumn Winter 2025 Collection. London, February 21st 2025
There’s something poetic about stepping into St. Paul’s Church in Covent Garden, a place so central yet often overlooked. For Bora Aksu’s Autumn Winter 2025-26 show, it became the perfect stage — intimate, historical, and steeped in quiet grandeur. Aksu’s collections have always felt like love letters to the past, woven with a modern sensibility, and this season was no exception. Inspired by Empress Elisabeth of Austria — a woman idolized yet deeply isolated — the collection balanced regal refinement with raw emotion, softness with defiance.
Words by Adam Chan.
The opening look immediately established this tension. A structured grey overcoat with a sharply tailored double-breasted silhouette carried the weight of imperial formality, its contrasting black lapels and lace-trimmed shoulders adding a sense of careful composition. But beneath its strict lines, sheer white polka-dot lace peeked through — delicate, romantic. The voluminous sleeves, gathered at the wrists, suggested something more fragile beneath the surface, while the veiled headpiece was a final, haunting touch. It was Elisabeth as she was seen — regal, untouchable — but also as she was, a woman confined within the beauty that defined her.
And then, a moment of breathtaking contrast — a sheer, buttercream-hued gown, one of the most striking looks of the collection. A cascade of tulle, lace, and intricate corsetry, it felt almost weightless, as if stitched from whispered secrets and fading memories. The delicate bow ties and antique lace details nodded to the Empress’s own preserved wardrobe, a vision of femininity so carefully crafted that it became a gilded cage. But Aksu, ever the master of tension, grounded the look with black lace-up boots, cutting through the nostalgia with something bolder, more rebellious. It was Elisabeth through the eyes of Egon Schiele — romantic, undone, unbound.
Throughout the collection, Aksu explored the grandeur of Elisabeth’s world and the raw expressionism of Schiele’s art. Sweeping veils, intricate lacework, and structured outerwear echoed the Empress’s carefully maintained image, while fluid drapery, sharp tailoring, and exaggerated proportions brought in a darker, more instinctive energy. The palette — creamy whites, deep reds, opulent purples, and rich blues — reflected both her ethereal presence and the turbulence beneath.
As always, Aksu’s dedication to craftsmanship and sustainability shaped the collection, with forgotten textiles revived through exquisite technique. In a season of contrasts, he didn’t just capture Elisabeth’s story — he reimagined it, turning nostalgia into something daringly modern.
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