Tony Ward's Fall 2025 couture collection, Entre Rêve et Regard, was a declaration—a collection for women who inhabit space unapologetically. Ward drew on masquerade balls and Baroque excess, but used those references as scaffolding for something sharper and more contemporary.

The opening looks established the tone: corsets that rose like sculptural armour, shoulders carved into assertive lines, and silhouettes that shifted between rigid structure and fluid transparency. Ward's corsetry functioned less as historical quotation and more as architectural discipline—the waistline became a point of tension between concealment and display.

The tactility stood out. Ward's 3D appliqués didn't merely sit on the surface; they built outward, creating layers of petals, folds, and crystalline textures. Velvet devoré appeared in sharp slices and engineered cut-outs, forming patterns of shadow and light that referenced the voyeuristic drama of the masked ball. Sheer panels interrupted the density of velvet or metallic brocade, guiding the eye deliberately across the body.

The embroidery was baroque in spirit but not beholden to period aesthetics. Volutes of threadwork and cascades of pearls formed sculptural flourishes that spoke of reinvention rather than reenactment. Lace functioned as connective tissue between armour and exposed skin. Oversized sleeves arced outward with drama, while metallic textures caught the runway lights in flashes of spectacle.

The palette sharpened the narrative. Ward avoided pastels, opting instead for blues and pinks with hard-edged vibrancy—electric rather than romantic. These were grounded by deep reds, amber, and earthy tones that kept the collection from drifting into pure fantasy. The tension between vivid colour and grounded depth mirrored the interplay of reveal and conceal throughout.

What tied it together was character, not costume. Ward didn't simply invite admiration—he proposed opulence as a language of agency. In Entre Rêve et Regard, ornament becomes armour, drama becomes identity, and the baroque is filtered through a contemporary lens. The collection draws from dreams and excess, but its message is clear: transformation happens on your own terms.