Lithuanian Folklore in Aistė Hong SS25
The story significantly references the Baltic Sea.
Image Courtesy of Lindsey Media and Aistė Hong
Aistė Hong’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection is set around decadence, a nod to the future collection. Rows of white cotton chairs with golden legs line a narrow runway. Glasses of champagne litter the mantles and talking tables toward the back. Marble fireplaces and pillars with gold crown molding punctuate the room, an eye-watching fantasy of detail. Before the models take charge, the guests swarm around to get their last photos under the giant gleaming chandeliers. Suddenly, almost without notice, the first breeze of silk comes marching out, hushing the bustling crowd.
The cape makes a dramatic mark in Hong’s show and decidedly creates a new, powerful silhouette for the modern businesswoman. The first look, a complete cream dream, saunters through with angular shoulder blades that still manage to tussle the ruffled bow softly. The 19-look collection is a homage to the elegance and seamless essence that goes into the refined woman with pastel silk blouses and pencil skirts, t-strap dresses draped gracefully off the shoulder, and the iconic back flap cape sitting seemly below the shoulder blades. The garments weren’t just for high-brow board rooms but fun moments of bubble dresses in indulgent colors of blue and yellow.
Image Courtesy of Lindsey Media and Aistė Hong
“The beautiful, strong women I design for know what luxury clothes should look and feel like,” Hong says. “They will accept nothing less, and they shouldn’t. I designed this collection to serve both purposes, to give women the ability to dress like a CEO or an off-duty supermodel and all the variations in between.”
Hong pulls inspiration from her Lithuanian background using her childhood folk tale, “Eglė the Queen of Serpents.” The story significantly references the Baltic Sea, and Hong uses aquatic color theories reminiscent of the shore and distinct waves as a direction for her collection’s draping. Blouses that gather, drop at the nape, and spread loosely around the arms are another reminder of her combining her culture with the storytelling of the women in her present. Her collection embodies the meaning of structured and thoughtful tailoring, referencing her childhood — Hong’s mother was in apparel quality control. She passed on the standardization of fine materials and fabrics, influencing the esteemed elegance of the collection.
