Levi Palmer and Matthew Harding had just returned from vacation during their Spring 2025 preview. Their sense of R&R was palpable: it stemmed partly from their hot summer vacation, and also from the fact that their business is doing well despite the tumultuous retail landscape that many fashion brands currently find themselves in.
As they’ve developed their once “passive” direct-to-consumer website, they’ve learned more about the people they design for. The most revealing and constructive feedback comes from the chat widget on their site: “It’s very easy to forget that the clothes actually have a purpose out there in the world. If you just focus on the creativity, it’s great for you, but not necessarily great for people to believe in,” Harding said.
They know their customers inside and out. And they’re on the same page: A recent trip to Paris revealed that a top client, the proud owner of fifteen Palmer Harding shirts, is also a proud owner of three works by Richard Serra – an artist who has inspired the designers’ methodology since the beginning. “When you have those relationships with your consumer, you really understand their point of view and their mindset. It’s exciting, it validates the work you’re doing,” Palmer noted.
How does spring 2025 fit into their customers’ wardrobes? ‘Weekend’ is a word often used in conversation and in the context of their lookbook was translated through separates and dresses done in cotton, light wash denim and taffeta. “Our approach is very sculptural, very practical on the fabric,” says Harding of the draping methods Palmer experiments with at the beginning of each collection.
This collection began with two semicircles – representative of a loved one’s embrace, inspired by their own evolving polyamorous relationship – that were manipulated in various ways to create new silhouettes with curved panels, their signature ruffles, tied waists and flowing sleeves that seeped through like waves to the ground (hence the nautical palette). “It’s not necessarily about that early, exciting kind of sexual tension,” Harding explained. “It’s this kind of almost calm realization, and almost like a knowing, in a relationship.” The embodiment of their new vision was the final look: a cobalt blue dress with an asymmetrical peplum, one of the most direct interpretations of multiple shapes becoming one – a bit like Palmer, Harding and their clients.