Showcasing the New Haute Couture Collection of Designer Lena Erziak
FALL WINTER COUTURE COLLECTION 2025–2026
PARIS FASHION WEEK HAUTE COUTURE FW 2025–2026
The Poetry of Strength, the Mastery of Beauty
Iron Sakura: A Story Woven in Silk and Steel
At the heart of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture FW 2025–2026, designer Lena Erziak unveiled her latest creation, Iron Sakura—a collection that transcends the runway and enters the realm of poetic storytelling. Captured through the lens of photographer Greg Alexander and embodied by the elegance of Anastasia Degtyarenko, the collection becomes more than fabric; it becomes philosophy.
“Iron Sakura” is not just a name—it is a paradox. It represents the delicate beauty of cherry blossoms and the indomitable strength of steel, the fragility of a fleeting moment and the permanence of resilience. In Lena Erziak’s hands, these contrasts fuse into garments that celebrate the eternal dualities of womanhood: softness and strength, rebellion and tradition, vulnerability and power.
A Dialogue Between Cultures
The collection was born during Erziak’s journey through Japan, where she found herself captivated beneath blooming cherry trees. “There is a quiet resilience in the cherry blossom,” she explains. “Its petals fall, but they return every spring, unwavering in their constancy.”
This intimate encounter with Japanese culture, filtered through the designer’s Parisian sensibility, laid the foundation for Iron Sakura. The influence of ancestral Japanese craftsmanship and the post-war architectural sensuality of Paris collide here. What emerges is couture that feels both timeless and radical—honoring tradition while daring to reconstruct it.
Reinventing the Hourglass
Inspiration also came from the archives of fashion history—specifically, the revolutionary bullet bra dress of Jacques Fath, which defined the female silhouette in the 1950s. Erziak reinterprets this architectural form with pointed bodices, accentuated curves, and sculpted lines.
But this reinvention is not nostalgia—it is assertion. In Iron Sakura, the hourglass shape is not a symbol of ornamentation but of authority. It speaks of a femininity that is unapologetic, commanding, and fearless. The garments are armor, but armor crafted in silk, satin, and velvet—where protection meets sensuality.
A Muse in Motion: Anastasia Degtyarenko
On the runway, the vision of Erziak’s collection finds its voice in Anastasia Degtyarenko, whose commanding presence embodies the philosophy behind the designs. Her movements tell the story of a woman who is both delicate and unbreakable, echoing the very paradox Erziak set out to capture.
Through Greg Alexander’s lens, Anastasia is immortalized not only as a model but as the living narrative of Iron Sakura. Every image is a canvas, each frame carrying the interplay of shadow and light, steel and blossom.
Craftsmanship as Poetry
Beyond silhouettes, the collection is a triumph of craftsmanship. Luxurious fabrics, hand-sewn embroidery, and structural tailoring come together with an attention to detail that borders on obsession. Erziak’s atelier becomes a workshop of poetry, where stitches are verses and patterns are refrains.
The palette tells its own story: muted greys and metallic silvers reflecting strength, soft blushes and sakura pinks evoking fragility, and deep blacks grounding the entire collection in quiet rebellion. Accessories, too, are sculptural—crafted to blur the lines between jewelry and armor.
The Message of Iron Sakura
At its core, this collection is a manifesto. It is about redefining couture not as unattainable beauty, but as a declaration of strength. It is about reclaiming femininity as authority, not submission. It is about honoring history while daring to write a new chapter.
“Iron Sakura is the woman who refuses to choose between softness and strength,” Lena Erziak states. “She is both, and that is her power.”
Paris as the Stage, the World as the Audience
Unveiled during Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture, the collection instantly struck a chord with the global fashion community. Critics hailed it as a seamless fusion of East and West, past and future. But beyond reviews and applause, Iron Sakura has already begun to shape a new dialogue about what haute couture can and should be: not just clothing, but a living form of art and identity.
Closing Notes
In Iron Sakura, Lena Erziak has not merely designed a couture collection—she has composed a symphony of contrasts, conducted by the rhythms of history, culture, and human experience. With Anastasia Degtyarenko as muse and Greg Alexander as storyteller, this collection is immortalized as one of the season’s defining moments.
The poetry of strength, the mastery of beauty—this is Lena Erziak’s gift to the world of couture.
Credits:
Photography : Greg Alexander @gregalexanderofficial
Art director : Sebastien Vienne @sebastienvienne
Production : Mephistopheles Productions @mephistophelesproductions
Styling Kahina Melchane @kahina_melchane
Model Anastasia Degtyarenko @anastasia_degtyarenko_ at @blakeagencyparis
Hair & Make-up Carine Larchet @carineparisparis
Assitant Emmeline Yalaz-Lazizi @emmeline.yl
