Inside CAMPILLO’s “Fictions of Reality” at New York Fashion Week
By Veronika Collins
Designer Patricio Campillo Photo Credits: Zeeshaan Shabbir
There is something about experiencing a fashion show in person that photographs can’t quite capture. The movement of the clothes, the styling, the setting, and the energy in the room all become part of how a collection is remembered.
That was especially true for CAMPILLO’s Fall/Winter 2025 presentation, which I attended on February 7, 2025, at WSA during New York Fashion Week.
Titled “Fictions of Reality,” the collection by Mexican designer Patricio Campillo explored memory, heritage, and the space between what is familiar and what feels surreal. And standing inside the venue with the New York skyline visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the setting itself felt like an interesting contrast to the collection's deeply personal Mexican influences.
A New York Backdrop for a Mexican Story
Walking into the show, one of the first things that stood out was the setting. The expansive windows overlooking New York created a dramatic backdrop for the presentation, with the city visible behind the runway.
It was an unexpected pairing for a collection so rooted in Campillo's childhood and Mexican heritage.
But that contrast worked.
CAMPILLO's Fall/Winter 2025 collection wasn't trying to recreate a specific moment in Mexican history. Instead, Campillo was taking memories, traditions, and familiar cultural references and translating them into something distinctly contemporary.
The collection became a conversation between different worlds: Mexico and New York, tradition and modernity, reality and fantasy.
The Details Were What Made the Collection
As the looks came down the runway, it was the smaller details that made the collection particularly interesting.
Campillo drew inspiration from his childhood surrounded by a coffee plantation, incorporating small coffee flowers as buttons on several pieces. Something so ordinary and personal became part of the construction of the garments.
That idea—turning memories into fashion—was central to Fictions of Reality.
The collection featured structured tailoring, exaggerated silhouettes, intricate textures, embroidery, and unexpected combinations of materials. Traditional references were pushed into more dramatic proportions, giving the clothing an almost dreamlike quality.
These three looks are a perfect example of the tension running throughout the collection: masculine tailoring mixed with sensuality, traditional references paired with unexpected styling, and familiar clothing transformed into something that feels almost otherworldly.
Charro Culture Meets Contemporary Menswear
Campillo's use of Mexican charro tailoring was one of the strongest cultural elements of the collection.
The designer took the structured silhouettes traditionally associated with charro clothing and interpreted them through a contemporary lens. Tailoring became broader and more sculptural, while proportions played with the traditional expectations of menswear.
There was a deliberate balance between masculine and feminine throughout the collection.
Rather than separating the two, Campillo allowed them to overlap—structured jackets could feel dramatic and sensual, while wide-leg trousers and exaggerated proportions softened the traditional rigidity of tailoring.
That push and pull made the collection feel less predictable.
The Surrealism Behind the Clothes
The title Fictions of Reality became even more understandable when looking at Campillo's inspiration from Mexican surrealist painter Remedios Varo.
Varo's work often blurred the line between the everyday and the fantastical, and Campillo translated that same idea into clothing.
The garments were recognizable, but there was always something slightly unexpected: an exaggerated silhouette, an unusual texture, a dramatic accessory, or a detail that transformed an otherwise familiar piece.
And that was perhaps the most interesting part of seeing it in person. The collection wasn't surreal simply for the sake of being visually dramatic. The surreal elements were connected to Campillo's memories and cultural references, giving them a reason to exist beyond aesthetics.
My Takeaway From the Show
Seeing CAMPILLO's Fall/Winter 2025 collection at New York Fashion Week gave me a different appreciation for how much storytelling can exist within a garment.
What could initially look like a dramatic runway moment—the oversized textures, statement accessories, sculptural tailoring—becomes more meaningful once you understand where those details come from.
For me, the collection's strongest quality was that balance between heritage and experimentation.
Campillo wasn't looking backward. He was taking elements of Mexican culture and personal memory and pushing them forward, creating a collection that felt modern while still maintaining a clear connection to where it came from.
Fictions of Reality ultimately asks us to look at fashion differently—not simply as clothing, but as a way of transforming memories, culture, and imagination into something tangible.
My outfit from the show. Style by: Nyla Stanford wearing Full Drink More Water NYC Shoes: Christian Louboutin Bag: Vintage Moschino Sunglasses: Gucci
After experiencing the collection firsthand, that was what made CAMPILLO's Fall/Winter 2025 presentation stand out to me: it wasn't just a collection inspired by reality.
It was a collection about reimagining it
CAMPILLO Fall/Winter 2025
Designer: Patricio Campillo
Collection:Fictions of Reality
Location: 180 Maiden Lane, New York City
Date: February 7, 2025
Styling: Chino Castilla
Casting: Nicola Kast
Hair Lead: Evanie Frausto
Hair Team & Product: Cutler Salon
Make-Up Lead: Michaela Bosch
Make-Up Team & Product: New York Makeup Academy
Footwear: Mariano Shoes (APICCAPS)
Sound Mixing: Marcos Carral
Production: La Malle
PR: PURPLE
