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For her autumn/winter 2025, Maria McManus staged her New York Fashion Week presentation in the cosy enclaves of her Tribeca apartment. The Irish designer welcomed a small group of press, buyers, and clients, into her space to create a sense of warmth and cosiness amidst political and social upheaval. When she started designing the collection back in November, President Donald Trump had been re-elected for a second term, putting social and environmental laws under fire. It was impossible to ignore.
As a response, she provided a balm to omnipotent political anxiety in her circles through a collection that spanned cocooning silhouettes, layered and draped styling, and comforting textures like responsible mohair and wool blend sweaters and scarf coats. It produced elegant results like an ivory cape sweater in responsible alpaca layered with an oversized alpaca scarf, accompanied by wide-leg trousers and glass prayer beads. Simply does it with organic cotton tees styled with the brand’s newly introduced organic cotton denim with recycled metal trims and deadstock pockets. A collaboration with a 200-year-old lace mill imparts sensuality in a t-shirt dress and a Naia Renew (McManus’ go-to fabric made partly from wood pulp and waste materials) sateen slip skirt and trousers. For jewellery, she worked with designer Ashley Moubayed on natural stone totems like prehnite, phantom quartz, tiger’s eye, hematite and natural beach stones.
“This was a difficult [collection to make] in many ways because the backdrop to life right now is so traumatising. It’s hard to separate fashion from what’s happening on a macro, political, social, and environmental level,” said McManus on a Zoom call, ahead of her AW25 salon presentation on Friday morning.
