Jonathan Simkhai spends so much time in his boutiques that “people think I’m the store manager sometimes,” he said of frequenting his shops in Beverly Hills, Dallas, New York, and Southampton. The visits give the LA-based designer a chance to see which pieces are resonating with customers, and the offerings they hope to see in the future. His takeaways for pre-fall 2025 included a desire for genuine leather, an enthusiasm for pre-styled looks, and a growing interest in shoes and handbags.

“We were playing with a lot of vegan leather, historically,” Simkhai said, “but a lot of our customers were saying they wanted real leather; they wanted pieces that felt like they would last longer and felt more valuable, and they were willing to pay more for leather.” To that end, Simkhai fashioned barr

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