Year in review: The deals, departures, and disruptions that defined fashion in 2025

This year has been full of both surprises and turmoil for fashion. With blockbuster acquisitions, unexpected executive shake-ups, and brands scrambling to navigate shifting tariff rules, 2025 often felt like a fashion-industry reality show in which every week brought a new twist.

So in case you didn’t keep up with it all, here are the biggest fashion moments of 2025.

Big deals

Kicking things off, the mother of all deals: the Prada-Versace merger. The 1.25-billion-euro ($1.4 billion) acquisition—one of the largest in Italian luxury history—saw Prada acquire the brand from Capri Holdings, effectively bringing Versace back under Italian ownership for the first time in years.

The takeover, which was officially completed in December, is likely to help Prada fortify its portfolio and better compete with French giants like LVMH and Kering, while giving it access to a broader range of global shoppers.

Another big partnership arrived via Guess and Authentic Brands Group. Per the deal—likely to close early next year—Authentic Brands Group is set to own a 51% stake (worth $1.4 billion), instantly making Guess one of Authentic’s largest brands and pushing ABG’s total portfolio-wide retail sales to $38 billion annually, per the company.

Leadership shuffle

When companies weren’t busy acquiring each other, they were scouting for new executive talent. Much like last year, 2025 delivered headline-making executive moves, especially in luxury, a sector still trying to bounce back.

For starters, Gucci, a retailer that has seen a consistent dip in sales, tapped Demna in March as its new artistic director. The former Balenciaga creative director is expected to bring a fresh take to the brand—and some younger consumers. Just months after Demna’ss appointment, Luca de Meo took over from longtime chief executive François‑Henri Pinault as CEO at Kering.

And the surprises kept coming: Jonathan Anderson took over creative direction at Dior, debuting his first show in June and marking one of the most-watched designer transitions of the year.Other major appointments this year included Michael Rider at Céline, Pierpaolo Piccioli at Balenciaga, and Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez at Loewe.

Tariff-ied

And then there were the tariffs, which shook up nearly every corner of retail, including luxury.

With some countries being slapped with up to 50% in tariffs, many brands with manufacturing spread across Asia, Europe, and South America were pushed to raise US prices to protect margins. An initial 39% tariff on Swiss imports (later reduced to 15%) prompted watchmakers like Rolex to raise prices.

Elsewhere, mega luxury companies like LVMH and Hermès also hiked their prices. But it wasn’t just a luxury feeling the squeeze. Ultra-fast fashion retailers like Shein and Temu also announced price increases to combat the fallout from tariffs.