At Magda Butrym’s showroom, in a sprawling Haussmannian apartment near the Parc Monceau, what immediately caught the eye were the coats.
That’s no coincidence: the category is a big performer for her, so she leaned into it for pre-fall with well-tailored overcoats in chocolate or caramel leather or wool. Elsewhere, a roomy bomber with dramatic, slouched shoulders and a belted waist ticked the box on one of the season’s major must-haves; a wrap trench came with a dramatic, wide scarf; and a beige puffer looked remarkably streamlined considering the material.
Jackets, too, got special attention, with broad, ultra-constructed and padded shoulders contrasted by nipped waists: examples appeared in black wool with a portrait neckline, in collarless black glossy leather, or in a retro-leaning little peplum number in gray check with a whorl of fabric worked into the designer’s signature rosette at the hem. A suede jacket treated to look like corduroy, a new fabrication, also joined the lineup.
Butrym has always been partial to a structured silhouette. Here, she chose to make dramatic statements through volume while sticking to the rich neutrals she personally favors. The ’90s supermodel inspiration was on full display, thanks primarily to a liberal approach to padding—notably at the hips to amp up that hourglass line—a choice that came across almost like a campaign to restore womanly curves where semaglutides might have spirited them away. Volume got pushed to the front on a draped écru bustier with a full, crinkled chocolate brown skirt and a sleeveless column midi dress with a sculptural, almost rose-like ruffle around the bustline. Pedal pushers offered a counterpoint to all these shapes: over the past year, the designer has been integrating these little by little; now it seems to be gaining traction in Paris as a micro-trend.
Next season will be rife with handcraftsmanship, something Butrym has consistently used to highlight her Slavic roots. Here, statement pieces included lace lingerie dresses, perhaps paired with a glossy leather skirt, as well as hand-crocheted numbers from a midi dress (with removable shoulder pads), as well as bralettes and embellished swimwear. Ladylike accessories ranged from a structured, modernized take on the doctor’s bag to satin-finish mules or slingbacks with a rosette detail. By the time those—and the rest of this lineup—are ready for the shop floor, they will have a new place to call home at the designer’s first permanent store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.
