In recent seasons, something rare has started to appear on the runway: muscular women. It’s still unusual enough to stand out— despite a broader cultural moment embracing athleticism, from Kristen Stewart’s role in Love Lies Bleeding to the Olympic summer in Paris.
And yet in fashion, these bodies are often staged as anomalies: symbols of extremity, discipline, or transformation. Editorials place them in training mode, surrounded by dumbbells and gym gear, rather than presenting strength as part of an integrated vision of beauty. Physical strength is still coded as masculine or “other,” rarely allowed to exist within a broader idea of femininity.
With this story, Kenny Germé and I wanted to explore a different narrative — one where strength and softness are not opposites, but coexisting forces. Women are often described as emotionally resilient, yet their physical strength is rarely centered in the same way. Together with Chouaïb Arif we cast actual bodybuilders, whose muscular presence shaped the story. The styling moved between sculptural silhouettes — like armor — and second-skin pieces in latex or stretch fabrics, some custom-made to suggest bodies almost bursting out.
Shot in a brutalist pool complex, the setting became a character itself: concrete softened by water, hardness balanced by fluidity. Certain pieces were chosen for how they moved or transformed in that space — evoking aquatic textures like scales or mesh, without turning literal. We set out to create images where strength is not just visible, but felt—natural, commanding and fully integrated.