Inside SIMKHAI Spring Summer 2025 Women’s & Men’s Collection At NYFW
The Simkhai SS25 collection was unveiled at Edge at Hudson Yards, to a front row of guests including Taraji P. Henson, Suni Lee, Alexandra Raisman and Charlotte Lawrence. The show featured Amber Valetta and Caroline Trentini, and debuted Simkhai men’s looks on the runway for the first time.
For the Simkhai SS25 collection, Jonathan took inspiration from his mother’s wedding dress. A cascade of silk tulle embroidery with tiny silk florals, the fabric was created by SIMKHAI’s late grandfather in their family owned lace mill in Iran. This starting point bloomed into a collection featuring three-dimensional floral appliqué, hand-crocheted metallics, laser-cut leather, and fin pleating techniques across dresses, suiting, and knitwear. Every piece in the collection is imbued with a sense of modernity while echoing the spirit of spring and summer.
As the collection unfolds, there are sharp and alluring silhouettes contrasted with a sense of sculpted sensuality. For Spring, SIMKHAI for the first time designed garments mirroring the exact silhouette but executed them using entirely contrasting fabrications. These dresses intentionally share a silky lustrous surface but span spectrums between laser cut leathers to the plain weave of cotton poplin.
The animated floral and petal motif techniques are finalized not only with the use of machine embroidery but also with the use of handwork on the most delicate fabrics. As the fin pleating is mirrored in knitwear for Spring Summer 2025 so is the floral detailing as it begins to morph, transforming from a subtle print into a bold three-dimensional pop art of petals. Using guipure lace embroidery along with sheer underlay, the original silk petal detail continues to resurface as an experiment in the interplay of modernity and nostalgia.
The tear-shaped silk petal had fallen from a family album and was once attached to the dress worn by his mom on her wedding day, September 7, 1972. A cascade of silk tulle embroidery with tiny silk florals, the fabric created by SIMKHAI’s late grandfather in their family-owned lace mill in Iran. For SIMKHAI, his mom’s wedding dress has always been a staple of family lore, often recounted in the same breath as tales of growing up and falling in love.
SIMKHAI hopes to celebrate it and with her approval, breathe new life into that memory for her and his family, allowing the essence of her dress and time to bloom anew.
Attendees included: Taraji P Henson, Suni Lee, Alexandra Raisman, Charlotte Lawrence, Ava Phillippe, Olivia Palermo, Marco Fecchino, Johannes Huebl, Molly Sims, Indira Scott, Lauren Santo Domingo, Linda Fargo, Laura Whitmore, Simon Huck, Phil Riportella, Eric Rutherford.
