Fashion in 2025: trend expert Julian Daynov

As 2025 draws to a close, it is time to reflect on the past few months and look ahead to the year to come. We spoke with various industry experts about their expectations, aspirations, and highlights.

Julian Daynov knows the fashion industry from multiple angles: as a designer, trend expert, consultant, and former buyer. This provides him with a unique viewpoint on the past year and what the future holds, from both a creative and a business perspective.

What were your expectations for 2025?

My personal expectations for 2025 were somewhat ambivalent. On one hand, I hoped the industry would refocus on substance, clarity, and conviction after several loud and sometimes erratic years. On the other hand, I was aware that genuine change takes time and is often not a linear process.

Were these expectations met?

Some of these expectations were met, while others are still clearly in progress. I saw 2025 as a year where many industry players began to honestly assess their own relevance, some by choice and others by necessity. Brands are once again asking fundamental questions: Why do we exist? Who are we truly working for? What responsibility do we hold, both culturally and economically? I find this self-reflection to be both positive and essential.

Simultaneously, I noticed how difficult the industry finds it to truly abandon old patterns. Speed, constant visibility, and short-term success still exert enormous pressure. I had expected we would move away from this more quickly, which has only been partially achieved. I do, however, see a growing awareness that this model is reaching its limits.

How was the year for you personally?

Personally, 2025 was a very eventful and successful year for me. It was a year of refinement, both in content and strategy. In my work, I deliberately focused on projects that do not just claim a stance but embody it structurally. Creating spaces where fashion is understood as an expression of identity, freedom, and cultural movement, rather than a mere consumer product, was particularly important to me. This clarity confirmed my belief that reduction is often more productive than expansion.

What positively surprised me was the openness of many conversations. In 2025, I encountered less superficiality and more depth, particularly in my exchanges with young creatives and decision-makers who are prepared to rethink responsibility. This gives me confidence for the future.

From a purely “business” perspective, it was a very strong, packed, and intense year. I worked on many global client campaigns and launched new projects. There were also collaborations with brands outside the fashion industry and successes for the brands I design for. A personal highlight was the launch of my own fragrance, which became available in many countries from December.

Overall, 2025 did not spectacularly exceed my expectations, but it did confirm them in a very honest way. Change is happening, but it is fragile. This is precisely why we need people, brands, and platforms that remain consistent, even when immediate acclaim is absent.

What were the fashion industry highlights for you this year?

Globally, it was a very turbulent year for business and for many of the leading brands that dictate industry trends. I am certain that 2025 provided perfect inspiration for many documentaries and business consulting books. We saw designer shifts; waves of animosity towards luxury conglomerates; a lack of transparency within supply chains; and countless insolvencies in Germany. All of this is sobering and shocking, but also motivating.

The highlights in the fashion industry this year were less about individual collections and more about a tangible shift in perspective. Fashion is starting to take responsibility again: culturally, politically, socially, and economically.

In my work, I focus on industry trends and developments that are poised to make a significant impact.

What trends have you noticed?

I am observing a stronger focus on substance. This includes clear identities, sustainable processes, and a conscious engagement with target audiences who can no longer be defined by traditional categories.

What lowlights shaped 2025?

On the other hand, I also noted several lowlights in the fashion business in 2025. These included the cynical and hypocritical actions of global brands and fashion personalities supporting an ultra-wealthy country that condemns women and queer individuals; the transformation of cultural events into Amazon corporate events; the development of artificial intelligence in the fashion industry, which is costing creativity and many jobs; and numerous revelations about the lack of transparency and modern slavery in the production facilities of mega-brands.

These were some alarming developments in the business that I found deeply concerning. It remains to be seen how all of this will translate into 2026.

Where will the fashion industry head in the coming year?

2026 will be a year of consolidation and conviction for the fashion industry. We are already seeing a shift in focus from mere visibility to authentic relevance. Brands that communicate clearly defined values and embody them in their design, production, and community engagement will see stronger growth.

Gender neutrality will become an operational reality, not just a concept. Silhouettes, sizing logic, and presentation formats will become more fluid. This is not for the sake of a trend, but because consumers are simply demanding this freedom.

The link between creativity and responsibility must continue to grow in importance, not just regarding sustainability but as a holistic corporate culture. Those who can combine economic efficiency with cultural significance will be the ones to make a difference in 2026.

For industry players, this means not only providing aesthetic inspiration but also acting as a catalyst for new perceptions. This goes beyond the boundaries, categories, and traditional expectations of a fashion brand or a category player.

What needs to change urgently?

The speed at which meaning, newness, and coolness are expected to be produced is what urgently needs to change. The fashion business has long mistaken quantity for relevance. We need fewer cycles and more substance; less reaction and more conviction. Brands must stop chasing fleeting TikTok trends and instead take responsibility for their own narratives and stand for something.

The fashion business is at a point where cosmetic corrections are no longer enough. The most urgent change required is a fundamental shift in the understanding of value. For too long, success has been defined solely by speed, volume, and paid visibility. This model is not only ecologically and socially problematic but also economically short-sighted. Fashion needs time again for development, craftsmanship, and conviction. This means fewer drops and less overproduction, in favour of clearer concepts and more durable products.

A second key point is credibility. Sustainability, diversity, and gender neutrality can no longer be mere campaign buzzwords. They must be structurally embedded within a company, reflected in its leadership, design processes, casting decisions, and how collections are presented and sold. Consumers today are extremely sensitive to contradictions. Brands that communicate a stance without embodying it will ultimately lose trust and relevance.

Furthermore, the power dynamics within the industry must shift. Creative work, cultural research, and curatorial expertise must be valued as highly as short-term sales figures. Fashion is not an isolated product; it is part of a cultural discourse. Anyone who takes this discourse seriously will invest not only in marketing but also in education, context, and community.

Inclusion is another crucial aspect. This means rethinking structures, not just extending existing norms. Body images, gender categories, and age limits must be approached more openly, which includes retail, sizing systems, and communication. Fashion should not dictate who people should be. Instead, it should create spaces for them to define themselves.

Finally, the fashion business needs more courage to embrace reduction. Not every idea needs to be scaled, not every collection needs to be globalised. Local relevance, cultural depth, and clear identities are often more valuable today than maximum reach. When fashion is once again understood as a cultural asset – with economic responsibility and social impact – a more stable, honest, and sustainable system will emerge. In my view, this paradigm shift is long overdue.

What are your plans for 2026?

For 2026, I have made a conscious decision to prioritise depth over speed. My focus will be on further developing my existing partnerships and platforms.

Neudeutsch will be positioned more strongly as a curatorial space, not just for fashion but for cultural relevance in a broader sense. I aim to make the dialogues between fashion, art, design, and society more visible and physically tangible. Shows are planned for Berlin's Gallery Weekend and Art Week, in Copenhagen, and potentially in Miami. These moments offer a tremendous opportunity to embed fashion more deeply within the context of contemporary art and to engage new audiences. I am particularly interested in how fashion can function as a cultural medium within these formats—not as an illustration, but as a dialogue.

A key focus will be the continued development of my retail consulting, store design, and coaching projects. These projects treat shopping as a cultural experience rather than a mere transaction and aim to rethink retail spaces.

In my collaborations with international fashion brands, I aim to create new forms of engagement that are deliberately minimalist, high-quality, and clearly positioned in their content.

I will further expand my projects as a designer and creative director for fashion and accessory brands. I am very proud of Rossi's success and the fact that we have created a “blueprint for modern brand building” out of Germany with the brand; my design philosophy for gender-neutral silhouettes and styles now extends from shirts, trousers, and bags to interiors and fragrances.

I firmly believe that sustainable relevance can only be built on a foundation of trust and shared conviction. For me, 2026 is about creating lasting structures and platforms that can evolve without losing their identity. I see 2026 as a year where curating, networking, consulting, and co-creating are not just methods but a mindset: attentive, collaborative, and uncompromising on quality.

This interview was conducted in writing.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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