The Rising Student Designers in Paris Helping To Shape The Fashion Landscape

During my time at London’s Central Saint Martins studying for my BA in Fashion Journalism, I often found myself in the design studios, where hours flew by as I watched (and, likely, distracted) my friends on the Womenswear, Menswear and Knitwear programmes breathe life into their sketches, relentlessly perfecting their graduate collections.

As crunch time approached, the studios became a second home for them – an intense space brimming with ideas, ambition, and determination. Every stitch and pattern was agonised over in pursuit of landing a job with a top fashion house’s design team, or securing a spot on an MA course to further refine their craft.

Among the most sought-after destinations for an MA – both then and today – is Paris’ esteemed Institut Français de la Mode (IFM); the French counterpart to London’s CSM and Milan’s Instituto Marangoni. This AW25 season, IFM kicks off Paris Fashion Week with a showcase dedicated to its Masters students, offering the industry a first glimpse at the talent set to shape the future of fashion.

Some of those presenting this year are, for me, familiar faces – so as the Class of 2025 gets ready to debut their collections and make their mark in Paris, I caught up with a few of the students to learn about their stories, inspirations and visions for the future. Naturally, Service95 made sure to get a Paris recommendation from each of them, too...

Asa Bríet Brattaberg

Studying: MA Knitwear
Collection Name: Astandio

MY FASHION STORY STARTED... In Iceland. From a young age, I wanted a career in fashion, but I felt it was essential to build a strong technical foundation first. That’s why I chose to study tailoring in Reykjavik, mastering sewing, pattern cutting and garment construction before moving to London to study fashion design at Central Saint Martins. I thrived in the creative freedom of CSM and the vibrant energy of the city. It’s also where I began merging my tailoring expertise with my passion for textiles, exploring how fabric choices can transform a garment’s texture, structure and overall impact.

This led me to specialise in knitwear for my Master’s degree at IFM. My journey has been deeply rooted in craftsmanship, technique and heritage – all of which are central to, and reflected in, my work. It’s my way of preserving knowledge and tradition while pushing innovation forward.

MY MA COLLECTION... Inspired by Icelandic women during World War II, and draws from the arrival of American soldiers, which sparked both fascination and controversy. As these soldiers brought luxuries like nylon stockings, many Icelandic women, caught between excitement and societal judgment, formed relationships that were met with shame and accusations of betrayal.

At the heart of my collection is the love story between an Icelandic woman and a US soldier. When he leaves, she’s left with his jacket, which deteriorates over time. Driven by her love for craftsmanship, she begins to repair it. This narrative unfolds through a mix of deconstruction and repair in the garments. Military-inspired forms unravel and are reconstructed using delicate knitwear techniques, exploring themes of love, loss, and memory. Each piece reflects something once whole, then broken, and ultimately restored—mirroring the emotions of love and remembrance.

IN PARIS, YOU’LL FIND ME... in the knitwear studio (at a corner table with a view over the Seine). After the showcase, I’ll be back hanging around Canal Saint-Martin or thrifting in Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen.

Sofia Castellon

Studying: MA Knitwear
Collection Name: Las Gulf Girlz

MY STORY BEGINS... In Mexico City and the US. When I was growing up, I was a competitive gymnast captivated by the boldness of competition leotards – the sequins, vibrant colours and oversized accessories. It was my first experience using movement as a form of self-expression, balancing power with elegance. That early fascination with storytelling through the body naturally led me to fashion.

When I moved to London in 2018 to start my Foundation degree at CSM, I had no set path, but through experimentation, I discovered knitting, which led to my BA in Knitwear. What drew me in was its limitless potential – not just as a craft, but as a means of constructing something entirely my own. This realization opened doors to internships at Oscar de la Renta in New York and Maison Margiela in Paris. Now, as I complete my Master’s at IFM, I continue to explore textiles, identity, and movement, using knitwear as a medium for storytelling and self-expression.

MY MA COLLECTION... Is inspired by my Mexican and American roots and the day I moved from one to the other. My collection follows, Las Gulf GurlZ – a fierce girlband I created – touring Mexico and the United States. United by rock music, the girls hit the stage each night in a blaze of fireworks, their costumes defiantly embodying the chaotic, beautifully entangling these two worlds. I imagine the band performing in a music video, Funeral In The Sky: a plane, struck by an American firework, transforms into a dreamlike stage above the clouds, symbolising a limbo between two.  

Inspired by the chaotic beauty of Daniel Lezama’s paintings, this collection captures the clash of worlds, reinterpreting Mexico’s quinceañera tradition as a coming-of-age symbol. Characters like The All-American Nightmare and El Mariachi LoKo embody cultural duality and rebellion, representing those caught between worlds. This collection is for those who feel they don’t belong – caught between cultures or worlds, especially in today’s divided political climate. The turbulent relationship between Mexico and the US has become a defining feature of contemporary discourse, marked by walls, immigration bans and rhetoric that often reduces complex identities to stereotypes. It confronts the reductive narratives around Mexico-US relations, using satire and vibrant storytelling to highlight resilience, cultural fusion, and defiant self-expression.

IN PARIS, YOU’LL FIND ME... picking up a pain au chocolat from Mamiche a bakery that deserves its hype – and walking to Pont Neuf, the perfect picnic spot by the Seine. I also love the Belville area: there’s so many cute restaurants and the Buttes Chaumont park, which feels like you’ve stepped into a different universe. On an ideal day, I would end the night meeting up with my friends, somewhere like Le Cornichon.

Darius Betschart

Studying: MA Fashion Design
Collection Name: Bakken

MY STORY BEGINS... Back in 2018, during my high school graduation year in Paris, when I applied for IFM’s BA in Fashion Design before securing a menswear design internship at Heliot Emil in Copenhagen, where I spent 18 months freelancing for independent designers and contributing to the local art scene. I then moved back to Paris to join Études Studio as a production and development assistant, which led me to apply for IFM’s MA in Fashion Design. The transition was challenging, as I had shifted toward a more product-driven mindset, but with my tutors’ support, I rediscovered my creative spirit while refining my approach to product design.

MY MA COLLECTION... Is a tribute to Copenhagen – a city that played a pivotal role in shaping my identity. It’s an anthropological study of the ‘pseudo-bums’ who immerse themselves in techno music, tattooing and skateboarding, celebrating this subculture while questioning the privilege required to sustain it. I went sober clubbing at Baggen five days a week for two months and followed a group of guys I encountered there on social media to build my research and inspiration. Drawing on the perspectives of filmmaker Hito Steyerl and philosopher Bernard Stiegler, the collection argues that subcultural life now exists within a capitalist bubble, where social and cultural realities serve as entertainment for the privileged.

The wardrobe features classic subcultural archetypes such as bomber jackets, camo pants, distressed denim and technical wear, blended with the extravagance of Middle Ages and early Renaissance drapery. This fusion evokes a medieval rave where a debauched nobility indulges in their wildest behaviours, drawing parallels between contemporary capitalism and historical feudalism.

IN PARIS, YOU’LL FIND ME... well, living here has been difficult for me in the past, which pushed me to spend most of my free time in Copenhagen. I try to reconcile with my city by keeping myself busy – following my friends playing billiard in the pubs, working on my laptop at Bonjour Jacob and hitting the gym whenever I can.

Sarah Corcos

Studying: MA Knitwear
Collection Name: Honni soit mal y pense

MY STORY BEGINS... Quite chaotically! I’ve attended several different schools, searching for my own creative process but often struggling to fit in. It wasn’t until I discovered knitwear that everything started to fall into place and I discovered the steps I enjoyed most in the design process and, ultimately, my own way of working and creating.

MY MA COLLECTION... Is a study on misandry, an ironic and cathartic representation of women as predators through the lease of reptiles and carnivorous plants. I’ve been working with textiles a lot; manipulating and exploding the garments into a lot of small pieces and pushing the actual craftsmanship as much as possible.

IN PARIS, YOU’LL FIND ME... at Le Bal books near Place de Clichy, where there’s a lot of independently published art books and fanzines. Terrasse of the Mosquée de Paris is also the cutest spot mint tea and Moroccan pastries.

Aurore Montagner

Studying: MA Fashion Design
Collection Name: Les Belles Entravées

MY STORY BEGINS... In the suburbs of Nantes, which is a town on the northwest coast of France. It always indirectly fed me creatively as this town has an industrial past with aligning left wing politics, which resulted in a real encouragement of artistic communities and underground techno music. My grandmother was a seamstress, and I remember thinking when I learnt about her work that maybe I could one day be legitimate at making clothes.

MY MA COLLECTION... Is born from the desire to open up the process of fashion design to collective voices, and to celebrate the liberating power of creativity in spaces of confinement. Over a few months, I led collective creative workshops inside the women’s prison of Rennes with a small group of inmates who call themselves “Les Belles Entravées” (“The Beautiful Shackled”). We spent time together drawing, collaging, talking about clothes – about the things they missed wearing or dreamed of wearing. Slowly, the collection started building itself out of those exchanges. A majority of decisions – whether it was the colour palette, the motifs, or the fantasy of an eveningwear wardrobe – came from that collective energy. I wanted to create a collection that doesn’t just talk about freedom, but somehow holds the feeling of it inside the clothes.

IN PARIS, YOU’LL FIND ME... in love with everywhere! If you have good music in your headphones and a good perfume on your wrist, it always feels like you’re living in a movie, whatever the area you’re in.

Michael Zhang

Studying: MA Fashion Design
Collection Name: Dreams of the Pink Chamber

MY STORY BEGINS... In China, where I was born, but I moved to Sydney, Australia when I was three. I did my BA at Parsons School of Design in New York and worked at Vogue Australia and Proenza Schouler before beginning my MA at IFM.

MY MA COLLECTION... Questions notions of authenticity and sexuality in “Chinese-ness” and diaspora. A study of textures, drape and delicate crafts create a world where signifiers and double meanings mutate and challenge both Western and Eastern perceptions of identity, crafting new expressions of the semi-mythical.

Working closely with artist Ding Shilun and my grandmother, I wanted to create community and a catharsis to the contemporary censorship of queerness in China; my collection is a redemption to both my past and the present, questioning who belongs and how we create belonging.

IN PARIS, YOU’LL FIND ME... At my favourite place, Maison Européenne de la Photographie. There is a fantastic book by Ren Hang in the library on lower ground floor – his work was transgressive and truly beautiful to view in print form! I also love walking around Avenue de Choisy. I am super grateful to live here, as it’s such a melting pot of different cultures. It’s always nice to eat some good Asian food and take a nice stroll around when I have the time.