Share with us... Your Best & Worst Collections of F/W 2025.26
Who's the game-changer? What's the game that's being changed? Or have they just momentarily run out of themes? Because I'm not aware of any chronic under-supply of urban musicians or Germanic models.
Rip it up and start again! In The Game-Changing Issue, we celebrate the return of DIY culture in music, fashion and art, and meet the talented stars trailblazing this movement.
In The Game-Changing Issue of i-D we meet Stormzy; one of the leading voices in Britain's biggest underground music scene and the south London grime MC whose self-made rise to the top is an inspiration to everyone everywhere. i-D Features Director Hattie Collins has been following grime since its inception, first documenting it on the pages of i-D in 2005, and recently releasing the scenes' definitive tome This Is Grime with photographer Olivia Rose. "You could spend hours trying to distill the secret of Stormzy's success," she says. "The music is first and foremost a brilliant blend of chant-worthy one-liners teamed with straight spraying that has won him the love of students, grime heads, pop fans and his contemporaries. He's one of the leading voices in the most important British subculture since punk." With Skepta winning the 2016 Mercury prize for Konnichiwa, this year grime is finally getting the recognition it deserves, and much to Hattie's joy Stormzy has the honour of being the first grime MC to appear on the cover of i-D.
The same DIY spirit and yearning for authenticity is evident in fashion too. Raf Simons - one of the most influential designers of the last twenty years - continues to defy expectations, celebrating his love for the arts in his Robert Mapplethorpe menswear collection, modelled here by Anna Ewers. Like Raf, Rick Owens has built an empire out of his wholly inspirational and independent approach, this season showing his most sublime collection yet, beautifully captured by Mario Sorrenti and Alastair McKimm. Demna Gvasalia is another designer going against the grain and enjoying monumental success as a result. His appointment at Balenciaga was a revolutionary move by Kering that showed that fresh thinking and new blood are exactly what this industry needs. While over at Pringle, Fran Stringer - in one short season - has brought a startling modernity to one of the world's oldest brands.
With no shiny packaging or polished social media feeds, our portfolio of young actors proves that true talent always wins through in the end. In a series of intimate portraits, Alasdair McLellan meets Joe Alwyn, the young Londoner plucked from obscurity to star in Ang Lee's highly anticipated Hollywood blockbuster Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Home. Dallas native Sasha Lane shoots to fame in American Honey, and 22-year-old Brit Charlie Heaton hits the big time for his starring role in Stranger Things, the Netflix series that's spooked us all. We also chat to Dev Hynes, whose third album as Blood Orange, Freetown Sound - a cacophony of melody and personal meditation - is his most beautiful and accomplished work yet. London's clubs may be closing down (Fabric RIP), but NY's nightlife is still going strong as we meet the new generation of kids, queers and queens burning up the dancefloor.
In The Game-Changing Issue of i-D, you don't need a million + Instagram followers, a big shot record deal or an LA agent to make it big or connect to your audience. The internet has spurred the return to a DIY culture not seen since the 80s, enabling us all to make music/art/films from our bedroom and speak directly to our fans. The stars in this issue are so bright you can see your shadow, read their stories and get inspired.