Last night, fashion bid farewell to one of the greats as Dries Van Noten, who held his first show in 1991, delivered his last. Invitations were silver and simply embossed with the word ‘LOVE’ giving guests directions to a location on the outskirts of Paris, where Dries held his 50th show two decades ago. Once inside the cavernous warehouse, a montage of the designer’s four-decade-long career was projected onto a ceiling-high cube, honouring the magic of the designer’s inimitable craft. Dries’ front row was populated by his peers, such as Glenn Martens, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Haider Ackermann, and fellow Antwerp Six designers Ann Demeulemeester and Walter Van Beirendonck, who all took their seats to witness the Belgian designer’s swansong.

A palpable anticipation descended as the curtains to the show space opened to unveil a 74-metre-long runway built from shimmering silver foil, and Alain Gossuin – who walked in Dries’ very first show in 1991 – strode down the catwalk. Soundtracked to David Bowie’s 1977 track Sound and Vision, Dries’ SS25 collection was a foray into the sounds and visions he has held at the house’s core since its founding. As per the show notes, this season was about “clothes that move through life with us” continuing to develop the everyday elegance built on Dries’ distinct understanding of craft. Even at the end, Dries looks forwards.

This season saw the work of Belgian artist Edith Dekyndt lie at the core of the collection, whose work dissects the performative phenomenology of ordinary materials. Leaning into the varying textures and forms present in Dekyndt’s practice, suiting arrived single or double-breasted and exaggerated in elongated silhouettes, and organza was used in tops and pants, layered to create the illusion of transparency as looks appeared to float down the runway. Materials had been treated to appear lived-in, delivering looks built from classic English herringbone or heavy cotton, which perfectly juxtaposed the reflective foil and heavy velvet elsewhere in the collection. Other pieces were inspired by suminagashi, a traditional Japanese marbling process utilised on a series of looks featuring floral motifs alongside gold bullion embroidery and precious stones.

Once the show had ended and Dries took his final bow to a standing ovation, the curtain dropped behind the space to reveal a giant disco ball (6m diameter, weighing 1500kg) that reflected light across the venue as music kick-started the party – inviting guests to revel in the legacy of a living legend. In an emotional farewell note, Dries left us with this, “This is my 129th show; like the previous ones, it looks ahead. Tonight is many things, but it is not a grand finale. I think about how Marcelo Mastroianni once spoke of a paradoxical “Nostalgia del futuro,” beyond the lost paradises imagined by Proust, and how we continue to pursue our dreams knowing that, at some point, we can look back on them with love. I love my job, I love doing fashion shows, and sharing fashion with people. Creating is about leaving something that lives on. My sense of this moment is how it is not only mine, but ours, always.”