Photo by Hagop Kalaidjian
Hagop Kalaidjian
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Shifting from the cool, chic styles of autumn to a spring renewal in fashion comes naturally to Catherine Gee, whose Spring/Summer 2025 collection follows a fresh take on her familiar theme—luxurious coastal lifestyle. The Santa Barbara, Calif., designer thrives along the coast, whether at home along the American Riviera or visiting locales such as Italy’s Sardinia, Greece or Croatia.
“I am a resort-driven Spring/Summer brand but have a city edge with my Fall/Winter collection, which is highly intentional,” explained Gee. “Getting back to designing Spring/Summer ’25 was going back to my roots and getting really creative with color and letting it sing.”
Allowing colors inspired by Greece’s Cyclades Islands to “sing” through her collection brought Gee’s vision to life. One of the first pieces Gee designed for the collection was the Milos Dress, a floor-length, bias-cut silk slip design in two-toned blues that bring to mind the colors of the Aegean Sea.
“It was one of the first pieces I did in the whole collection, and I did it with my patternmaker in L.A.,” Gee said. “Blue is my favorite color, and I chose those two hues specifically for the setting where I knew we’d be shooting it. The flow and cut are so different.”
Fresh designs in the collection also include a number of styles in the designer’s Orange Tropical pattern on linen, featuring flora such as lilies and palms on a bright orange. The pattern is featured on the Symi Dress, Summerland Crop Top, Jumpsuit and Silk Short in addition to the Alexa Tank and the popular Stella Pant, a customer favorite since Gee’s early days. The Penelope Blouse, a laser-cut look in a cotton-twill, short-sleeve button-down pairs beautifully with the Savannah Short with a scalloped hem.
Gee also introduced her Bolero Jacket in the Parrot pattern featuring an array of tropical birds that the designer also applied to her classic Margot Car Coat and Stella Pant. The Athena Dress, available in a pink-hued punch, medium blue and cerulean blue, is a play on the long slip-dress styles for which Gee is known and encourages the wearer to channel the goddess within.
This empowered approach to fashion is a trend that Gee sees gaining momentum throughout 2025 as women invest more in themselves and how they step out into the world each day.
“There’s going to be an optimism. It’s going to be a response to fast fashion. People are going to slow down. Women are going to be more intentional regarding how they present themselves. I like the term ‘quiet luxury’ because less is more and people are going to choose quality over quantity,” noted Gee. “We’re going to see a lot of power dressing, whether that be monochromatic statements, bold color choices or a pop of an interesting print.”
