Fashion has always been about making a statement, whether it’s through a dramatic silhouette or a bold pop of color. But the Fall 2025 runways introduced a different kind of spectacle—one that’s not about being seen, but rather seeing yourself. From shattered mirrors to reflective embellishments, designers are forcing a literal self-reflection onto the wearer, creating an eerie tension between vanity and vulnerability.
The Shiny Trend: Mirrors on Everything
At Sandy Liang, models wore horse-show ribbon badges with reflective mirrors instead of traditional awards, reflecting your own face back at you as you watched. At Jane Wade, gray knits were adorned with dangling metal strips, giving the impression that looking too closely at the mirrored fabric would cause things to unravel. Carolina Herrera, Versace, and Givenchy all embraced mirrors in their designs, from large mirror paillettes to mosaic corsets, allowing you to catch a glimpse of your own reflection with every movement.
One particularly striking moment was at Sarah Burton’s debut collection for Givenchy, where a dress made from salvaged makeup compact mirrors reflected runway lights like miniature bat signals, screaming, “It’s all you!”
Alice in the Mirror
The “Through the Looking Glass” theme was hard to ignore, especially at Fendi, where models wore velvet bows and pencil skirts embroidered with tiny triangle mirrors. The symbolism was clear: just like Alice in Wonderland, staring into a mirror can lead you into a strange world of distorted realities. In fact, even current retail trends are pulling from this theme, with designers like Bode, Ganni, and Staud offering collections in “Alice Blue,” a color that draws from Disney’s 1951 film. The obsession with mirrors in fashion reflects a modern take on the mirror-world chaos explored in Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion. In the book, Tolentino writes about the disillusionment we face when we create digital versions of ourselves—images that are altered, filtered, and distorted, but far from authentic.
Mirrors, Self-Delusion, and Digital Doppelgangers
Tolentino’s book echoes the disconnect many experience between their true selves and their online avatars. Fashion seems to be exploring this schism, too. At London Fashion Week, Erdem’s collection featured mirrored slashes on fabric that reflected the audience as distorted shadows. Julien Dossena’s mirrored trench coats at Rabanne took this a step further by encasing reflections in PVC, creating a sense of alienation as the models’ reflections were both distorted and concealed.
At shows like Tom Ford, Gucci, and Schiaparelli, even the runway itself was filled with mirrors, forcing both the models and the audience to stare at their reflections as they watched the show unfold. It’s almost like being caught in a mirror maze—there’s no escape from the self you’re confronted with.
The Return of the “Evil Twin” in Fashion
The trend of mirror clothes is perhaps a nod to the resurgence of doppelgangers in fashion. Designers are bringing back “reissues” of beloved items from past collections—bags, shoes, and even iconic t-shirts from designers like Dior and Chloe. These pieces mirror our past selves, reminding us of the dreams and desires we had in younger years. It’s as if fashion is giving us a chance to reconcile with our former identities.
This “self” dichotomy is also reflected in television and pop culture. The hit show Severance explores the idea of our work selves and personal selves being separate, as if each is an “evil twin” of the other. Similarly, fashion collections from brands like Prada and Dior are playing with the idea of reflecting multiple sides of our personalities, especially in business attire, with pencil skirts that gleam like mirrors. These clothes, like the mirror trend itself, are forcing us to confront our duality—our work selves versus our true selves, our online versions versus our real lives.
The Question: Can We Use These Mirrors to Our Advantage?
With all this talk about mirrors, we’re left with a question: Are we trapped in a cycle of self-delusion, as Jia Tolentino warns, walking toward an idealized version of ourselves that doesn’t truly exist? Or can we take the opportunity for self-reflection, using these mirror-adorned garments to remind us to embrace who we are—flaws and all?
If you wear a Givenchy mirror dress and find yourself staring too much at the fractured reflections of your own image, then maybe the “evil twin” wins. But if you wear that same dress as a reminder to embrace the self that you are today—flaws, insecurities, and all—then perhaps you’ve outsmarted the mirror, leaving behind the idealized version of yourself for a more authentic one. After all, as Tolentino suggests, confronting the split between our real selves and digital personas can be unnerving, but it also provides a chance for a deeper understanding of who we truly are.
