AVAVAV FALL/WINTER 2026-27 COLLECTION

AVAVAV Fall/Winter 2026–2027, the fairytale refrain of “Mirror, mirror on the wall” was stripped of its whimsy and refashioned as a biting critique of the industry’s gaze economy. In a radical inversion of the runway hierarchy, guests found themselves transformed into the spectacle, walking a gauntlet of static female models who acted as silent, scrutinizing witnesses. It was a high-stakes game of visibility where the audience became the axis, and the power of the “look” was reclaimed by those usually destined to be looked at.

The collection was a disciplined exercise in structural interrogation, trading the shock tactics of seasons past for a deeper, more anatomical focus. Karlsson’s signature rib-cage motif returned not as a macabre curiosity, but as a map of the feminine torso—appearing in strategic slashes, intricate embroidery, and prints that felt more like architecture than ornament. The soundtrack provided a haunting, ironic counterpoint: a looped collage of male designers’ voices describing “their women” in the coded, idealizing language that has long defined the luxury landscape. Karlsson’s response was a sharp, “tomboy” elegance that resisted such labels, favoring a studied awkwardness over performative polish.

Silhouettes oscillated between the boardroom and the basement club. Neckties were the season’s recurring protagonist, engineered directly into the construction of tops or knotted into deliberate, defiant bows. The styling leaned into the surreal—tights pulled over pumps and the house’s infamous Finger shoes—creating a silhouette that felt intentionally unsettled. In a continued collaboration with Adidas, streetwear was elevated to a structural feat; elephant-leg trousers featured internal constructions that forced the fabric into a liquid, destabilizing drape, while exposed logo waistbands framed the hips of hybrid skorts.

There was a palpable sense of contemporary Surrealism throughout, a tactile provocation that felt like a modern rejoinder to the fur-lined provocations of Meret Oppenheim. One saw it in the tissue-stuffed bras and the bulbous, bubble-skirt evolutions of the Larva bag. Yet, beneath the conceptual armor lay a deeply personal thesis on the act of dressing. Karlsson spoke of the expansive freedom found in designing for the female gaze—a stark contrast to the performative constraints of the male eye. By fusing pinstriped tailoring with skirt-like volumes and reimagining masculine tropes through a feminine lens, she delivered a collection that was confrontational without being aggressive. At AVAVAV, beauty is no longer a verdict handed down by the mirror; it is a perspective claimed.

All Images courtsey of Avavav