What Sold in 2025—According to the Independent Boutiques Across the US Where Women Are (Really!) Shopping

What sold in 2025—the clothes, the looks, and the designers who mattered—polled from 13 independent stores from across America reveals something interesting (and encouraging): Coast to coast, women are buying, wearing, and loving the work of women designers.

One of the big fashion narratives of this year might have been the merry-go-round of male creative director hires, with some notable exceptions—Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta, Meryll Rogge at Marni, and Diotima’s Rachel Scott at Proenza Schouler. Yet the store keepers in our survey constantly mentioned women, be it established designers and labels (Phoebe Philo, Miuccia Prada’s Miu Miu, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of The Row, Amy Smilovic of Tibi, Emily Bode of Bode New York, and Catherine Holstein’s Khaite), merging favorites (the aforementioned Scott, Alissa Zachary’s High Sport, Ashlynn Park of Ashlyn, Trish Wescoat Pound’s TWP, Stephanie Suberville of Heirlome, and Fforme’s Frances Howie) or the newest of the new, such as Julie Kegels and Colleen Allen.

Of course, we can’t and shouldn’t be lazily reductive about this—these designers are often wildly different; their gender is all that unites them. But in an era when we are (rightly) evaluating every purchase, we’re demonstrating greater intentionality about who we want to wear—and why. (And yes, we’re thinking about how much we want to spend. No matter the budget, almost all of us are questioning fashion’s gasp-inducing price tags.)

Otherwise: It was a good year for color, investment tailoring, the ongoing appeal of quieter luxury (but the end looks like it’s in sight), and statement-making evening that’s not about being trussed up, or in something too tight, lower heels, and luxe-y bags (well, for almost everyone; just hold the logos). Above all, the theme that kept coming up was something I’ve discussed in the past—the exquisiteness of the everyday; real clothes elevated and made special.

Before we dive into what our retailers had to say, let’s end with one more female designer shout out, this one for Sacai’s Chitose Abe, because her label came up again, and again, and again. If anyone has been a powerhouse in 2025, it’s her.

Molly Nutter, By George, Austin, TX and New Orleans, LA