Lever Couture captivates the Palais de Tokyo with “Anatomy of Identity”
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's Fashion show time!
La Fashion, sometimes, goes beyond clothing. It becomes emotion, manifesto, mirror of the times. This is exactly what happened on July 9, 2025 in Paris, when Lessja Verlingieri, founder of LEVER Couture, presented its Fall/Winter 2025–2026 collection “Anatomy of Identity” in a Palais de Tokyo transformed into a contemporary cathedral of metamorphosis.
A couture vision between strength, fragility and rebirth
From the moment you enter, the atmosphere sets the tone: fluid organization, subdued lighting, hushed ambiance, restrained murmurs. Then the silence opens onto a moving performance by Katya Khaniukova, principal soloist of the English National Ballet. In her solo performance, she translates through movement what words struggle to express: vulnerability, resilience, identity in the making. A powerful, almost surreal dance, where the body becomes living tissue.
The performance was orchestrated by the artistic director Sina Braetz, a faithful accomplice of the house, who knew how to link light, sound, gesture and space in a deeply emotional staging. Like an opening incantation, she prepared the audience for total immersion in the sensory universe of LEVER Couture.
Anatomy of Identity: Sewing as a Mirror of the Soul and Inner Language
At the heart of the collection lies a fundamental question: how do we construct ourselves? Stitch by stitch, choice by choice, seam by seam. In a world where identity is fragmented, erased, and constantly reshaped, Verlingieri questions our need for belonging, our right to multiplicity, to contradiction.
« I wanted to explore this tension between what we hide and what we show. What we decide to reveal, what we protect. It's not a collection, it's an introspection.,” confides the designer.
Each silhouette becomes a metaphor: draped yet structured, sensual without being overt, raw yet precious. It oscillates between strength and fragility, dominance and abandon. A play of contrasts that perfectly encapsulates the brand's DNA.
Materials and techniques: ethical and sensory sewing
LEVER Couture is, first and foremost, a work of hand. Each piece is entirely crafted in Verlingieri's Los Angeles workshop. Nothing is left to chance: from the choice of textiles, often vintage silks or reclaimed materials, to the embroidery stitched thread by thread. All designed with a demanding approach to sustainability but never at the expense of aesthetics.
Here are some key details of this season:
• Soft green mesh : light, almost imperceptible, it instills a dreamlike transparency.
• Golden fringes : bright and dynamic, they capture energy with every movement.
• Silver Swarovski crystals : applied by hand, they transform each piece into a work of light.
• Nude sequins : tone on tone, they glide over the skin like a second light.
• Black sculptures : architectural masses which anchor the collection in contemporary rigor.
• Cream wool knit : honeycombed, textured, it plays with volumes with great subtlety.
These contrasting materials become the textile echo of the complexities of identity that the collection seeks to represent. Each dress becomes a manifesto, a silent declaration of the plurality of being.
A designer between three continents
Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Lessja Verlingieri She left her country at the age of 11 to join her mother in Germany. She then headed to Los Angeles, where she set up her studio. Three countries, three cultures, one creative voice: her own.
« My body is in America, my soul is in Germany, and my heart is in Ukraine,” she said with emotion.
Her Ukrainian roots nourish her sensitivity. German rigor forges her precision. Californian audacity frees her imagination. It is this triptych that makes her unique. LEVER Couture : a transcontinental couture, rooted and free, intimate and universal.
A haunting soundtrack
The parade music, composed by I Monster, amplified the dramatic intensity of the show. The song " Who Is She? ", mysterious and emotionally charged, enveloped the room in a cinematic atmosphere. Every note, every silence, became an extension of the couture. The show thus became a total sensory experience, where fashion, music, and performance merge.
A committed and touching designer
Behind every piece, there is a story. Sometimes personal, sometimes universal. When she talks about her mother, an engineer and creative, Verlingieri becomes moved. In the 90s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, my mother couldn't carry an American flag. She transformed it into a bag, embroidering the stars differently. This kind of memory accompanies me in every creation. »
His relationship with the fabric is almost sacred: “ I love vintage fabrics. They have soul. An energy. You can feel the difference when you wear them. It's not just a piece of clothing, it's a clothed memory. »
Since its debut in Berlin in 2011, where Nicholas Formichetti spotted her to dress Lady Gaga, his trajectory has continued to rise. Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Anya Taylor-Joy, Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, Megan Thee Stallion… all have succumbed to the aura of his sculptural creations.
Sustainable, desired, and confident fashion
LEVER Couture produces only one collection per year. A thoughtful, almost militant choice. I don't throw anything away. I keep the scraps. I reconstruct, I transform. There are a thousand ways to give new life to a fabric. »
This slow fashion approach doesn't preclude glamour. Quite the opposite. It adds a layer of authenticity to pieces already charged with emotion. Wearing LEVER Couture means choosing a fashion that respects the hand, the material, and the world.
A star on the rise
Verlingieri may still be a low-profile figure in the mainstream media, but in the fashion world, she is already a respected figure. Her signature: cinematic, dramatic, and deeply embodied couture.
« I want my creations to speak without words. To tell stories. To leave a mark. »
And that's exactly what happened. “Anatomy of Identity” : a visual manifesto, a silent cry, a celebration of what makes us multiple, moving, true.
The end of a Haute Couture Fashion Week under the sign of poetry
This show marked one of the highlights of this week of Haute Couture in Paris. A week that saw couture break free from its constraints, become a language again, and move closer to art.
LEVER Couture didn't just present a collection. It delivered an emotion, a vision, a fragment of humanity.
See you in Paris from September 29 to October 7, 2025 for the next Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2026, and until then, remember: fashion can be beautiful, conscious, powerful. Like a mirror held up to what we are, and what we can become.
Anne Candy
Runway photos: Yolanda Leaney @callmeyo
