Masha Popova’s SS25 collection is a chaotic ode to growing up without growing out of being a hot mess, f*ck the pressure to have it all figured out (we certainly don’t) and this season’s designs isn’t shying away from slip-ups; instead it embraces them. From half-hanging out bras and boxers, straps falling down shoulders and stockings slipping left right and centre, all those unplanned, messy moments of early adulthood are translated into design and, as we’d say, for the plot.
Nostalgia has always been a key part of Popova’s world, for ‘Impulse,’ she’s teamed up with adidas to rework the trainers that had our generation under the thumb (Superstar 82s) with rusted accents and studs into just 65 pairs, redeeming their status from cringe to cool, with layers of paint that fade with time, giving them a lived-in, roughed-up, designed-to-age-gracefully feel, that’s frankly, retro af.
No surprise, Popova’s signature rebellious streak is there (thank god), but this time it’s entered adulthood alongside Masha, treating tweed with the same raw energy she usually reserves for denim (don’t panic there’s still plenty of that), fraying edges, fibrous textures, add a cultured feel that travels through the angsty teen energy of the ’90s & ’00s to the twenty somethings of today who refuse to conform to adulthood (as we should). She’s frozen every era and impulsive moment into the fabric, giving each design a rich of history even before it reaches the runway.
Popova found inspiration in the pages of Exhibition In Paris by Patrick Magaud – a book filled with candid photos of women often in states of undress around the French capital (slay) – the source of these ‘Impulse’ moments & “oops” factors draped in dresses that look like they’ve been caught in your knickers, hemlines that feel like they’ve just been yanked up, and oversized, grandma glasses that shouldn’t work but somehow do? And of course, Masha’s signature jumbled belts (which have us on our knees every season) and the spiky gold bracelets that made an appearance for SS25 (and also had us gagging).
Popova herself is evolving, and her clothes reflect that shift. She’s still giving the same raw energy of her earlier collections, but SS25 is a time of reflection and new direction for the designer. ‘Impulse’ is about recognizing that being cunty and chaotic isn’t a phase you outgrow, it’s a lifestyle, instead of cleaning it up, she’s telling you to wear it proudly.