Simkhai Fall 2025: Vintage and Lived in Modernity

The legendary Pasadena Rose Bowl flea market served as the jumping off point for Jonathan Simkhai. He is the kind of vintage treasure hunter who gets there before the sun rises and one particular morning found himself transfixed by a vintage brooch. The thing about vintage hunting is it’s not just about the piece — it’s thinking about the life that piece once lived. Is it a bit tattered, does it have the patina of a life well lived? It was these ideas he explored for his fall collection. “It’s kind of emotional,” he said of the experience. “You just can’t help but think, where did these clothes come from? Who was wearing them? What did they go through?”

As guests including Beanie Feldstein, Tiffany Haddish, Tramell Tillman, Suni Lee, Jenna Lyons and Helena Christensen looked on, his modern take on vintage came via lived in oversize leather jackets over distressed knits with the patina he was looking for. A similar treatment also was found on motoboots, black kitten heels and handbags. There were sparkling brooch details all over a rounded shoulder gray sweater with matching high-cut pantie also in knit, tied with a belt. It was a cozy but polished pinup shape.

Vintage can read a bit dusty but this was a throughly modern expression of the theme. “As people, we carry stories and clothes; we use them as protective layers and as shields, and we wear them in times of happiness. We wear them on the battleground,” the Los Angeles-based creative said.

The collection vacillated between these two ideas, like an embellished sheer tank and a stunning finale gown, completely encrusted in crystal details, and then pieces with a distressed and lived in energy, such as loose oversize leather pants with a cozy knit with tattered edges and tiny little purposefully done holes. Outerwear purred with a bite, like the opening look with white fringe or a menswear plaid number with black crystals flowing down to the hem over tougher feeling leather separates. It was worn with riding boots with the same treatment.

He showed 37 floors above Hudson Yards just after sunset with New York City as the backdrop. It put the collection in context — polished sportswear for today’s times with a nod to the past. “I wanted a raw space that was strong and tough to kind of play with the theme of the collection,” he said.