Beate Karlsson was angling for something silly this season at AVAVAV, and we think she delivered. Today AVAVAV’s Spring/Summer 2025 show, hosted on a running track in Milan, asked its models to compete in a short-distance race. Some were dedicated, sprinting in four-fingered vibram heels, whilst others walked whilst chatting on their phones, and some even tripped (intentionally).
Catching up with Beate Karlsson, the founder and Creative Director behind the brand with a controversial edge and a penchant for four-fingered shoes, we found out the inspiration behind AVAVAV’s SS25 show before it happened. From comparing herself to the violinists on the slowly sinking Titanic to revealing what it actually takes to walk for AVAVAV, here’s what we found out from Beate Karlsson ahead of SS25.
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If you had to sum up the vibe for your upcoming SS25 collection in a sentence, what would it be?
“Where high fashion meets low performance.”
What’s one thing that was on the mood-board for your SS25 collection?
“In this collection we’re announcing a partnership with a global sports brand: its adidas. We’ve been working with them for one-and-a-half years now very closely to bring the collection together, so that has definitely influenced [our “mood-board.”]
“We’re definitely not a sports company, so I tried to find the irony in us trying to do “sporty” and “athletic,” because we’re so not. It's been super fun! [We’ve put] sports elements on the graphics on our clothing, like, there’s the number “13” [on a lot of the collection] which is like an unlucky player number. We’re basically just trying to be funny.
“We really dug into our core [this season], and into our signatures, like our finger boots which have also come into the partnership collection. It's kind of made me look at them in a new way, because [this season] they’ve come more “sporty.” They’re supposed to mimic the [adidas] Superstar’s shell toe, using a rubber material, but it's an attachment so you can put it on heels or on sneakers.
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“We also have this new bag that we’ve been working on for quite some time that’s really sculpted. In general, I always love to challenge myself in what silhouettes we can come up with that are still wearable, so that’s coming into a lot of the clothing but especially the accessories. Like there’s a sculpted cap that kind of looks like a beret but it's mixed with sportswear, almost like a bike helmet.
“The one thing I can say is that, after the last show that we had [at FW24], which became more serious than we had intended it to be - it was actually super interesting because the [meaning behind the FW24 show] became kind of messed up, and haters were hating and we were like ‘this is exactly what the show is about’ - after that, me and the team just felt like we don’t want to be too serious right now.
“[Last season] felt a bit provocative, so we’ve really enjoyed going into a more silly period; the show is very silly and fun. So yeah, silliness is definitely a word that was on the mood-board.”
Who’s your muse for SS25?
“I’d probably say: myself, and my close friends who I think have a great sense of style. They’re not famous people; they’re just friends of mine who are really into dressing themselves, and [of course] myself. I always try to think about what I would like to wear and that helps a lot, instead of thinking about what other people [I don’t know] would want to wear.”
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Last season the theme for your collection was the stress of being late - speaking a couple days ahead of your SS25 show, how are you feeling?
“It's going very [up and down] right now! I had a question the other day about ‘what’s the most misinterpreted part of fashion week’ and I think [the answer is] that it's glamorous. Or at least for us it's not! It's very hardcore; it's a hardcore work week. I’m kind of trying to be like the musicians on the Titanic who were just like playing the music, and meanwhile there’s like fire everywhere.
“But it's all good: it's just fashion, it's just clothing, it's not brain surgery, sh*t happens. That’s the mentality that I’m trying to stay close to, but we’re definitely [still learning as a team] how to cope with the stress in a way that makes sense for us. I wouldn’t say that we’ve found the answer just yet. It's hard!”
What are your thoughts on many high fashion brands opting to cut down on the regularity of their collections? Is that something you’d ever consider?
“To me it makes total sense, We’re having those conversations ourselves. We’re just having two shows a year [at the moment], but we’re doing so much in the shows that it really requires a lot of extra work because it's almost like a play for us. It's not just like a show where you’re like ‘here’s the venue, here’s the models, etc.’; there’s so many things going into our shows, like the performance, acting, rehearsals, and more, so I think it's healthy [to have these conversations].
“I think with Covid happening it's been a crazy time to start a brand and it's really a sucky financial time too, so the industry is very turbulent right now. Brands are going back to what works for us and what's healthy for our team, because that’s what’s going to be sustainable long-term, and it shows.”
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You’ve really put your models through it, with them sprinting in tear-streaked makeup at FW24 and chucking trash at them at SS24. Knowing this, what qualities does it take to be an AVAVAV model?
“First of all, I’m so honoured to work with the people that we work with on my shows; everyone on the team, but not least the models because they are such a big part of the show. “[Casting AVAVAV models] is a long process because they’re often street-cast. We don’t normally work with agencies for many different reasons: we want to find different looks; it's slightly cheaper; but also [because] it's sometimes easier to talk them through [the concept behind] the collection and everything that’s going to happen [in the show].
“For us, they just need to be into the idea, and want to be a part of it. Usually they need to have the right sense of humour… or I should say the same sense of humour; that helps a lot, because otherwise they could interpret [the meaning behind the show] as something [it's not.]”
AVAVAV is one of the many brands now known for using stunts on the runway, and we’re already buzzing about what SS25 will bring. Can you tease what we can expect?
“I mean, going back to the first thing I said, this season really is about ‘high fashion, low performance.’ The location of the show is going to be at an arena in Milan, and the show itself will essentially be a track and field race of 100 metres, where the models are going to try to break the world record in the 100 metres race… I think it's 9 seconds.”
That sounds insane - do you think any of the models will actually beat the record?
“Probably not! We had a lot of ideas around including athletes on the runway, but it turns out it's kind of hard to find sportspeople who have a sense of humour, and it was a bit tricky anyway because they could also hurt themselves. But we might have some athletes in the audience!”
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How much does social media and the prospect of going viral play into how you curate your runway shows? Is it a priority or an afterthought?
“I would say it's more of an afterthought, but obviously runway shows are marketing for the brand, the clothing, the product, and so sometimes we do want to do something that we think is really fun and that tells a story. Of course, there’s an element of us thinking ‘[is our idea] going to be entertaining enough?’ Because it's also two different things for a show to be interesting for a live audience and a whole other thing thinking ‘how do we present the show digitally’, so that’s always a conversation.
“I don’t think we talk about ‘how do we go viral’, but more ‘how do we engage with the people that are gonna see it online.’ At the end of the day, we have like 200-300 people come to the show, but like 300 million people will see it online, so it's definitely important that we get to show the idea in a digital sense.
“That’s also what we realised [at FW24], because there were so many press at the show who [posted footage before we were able to announce the context], without really knowing the idea [behind it], just posting footage of models being trashed. In that [instance] for example, it was hard for people to understand the concept. So, we are always thinking about how it will translate digitally.”
What’s your favourite piece in AVAVAV’s SS25 collection?
“I’m loving our sculpted caps, I think they’re super strong. But I also love [the accessories from] the adidas collab: we’ve done a leather bag that’s super sculpted, it's like a reinterpretation of the adidas Airliner which is one of their most iconic silhouettes.”
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If you were to suggest one thing for guests at the AVAVAV show to bring, what would it be and why?
“I mean, if I were a guest I would bring… hmm, probably like - actually I won’t say that, but I was going to say a little alcohol bottle because it's always fun to be like a little bit tipsy when you’re watching a show. But no, I would bring very good energy. I hope they bring good energy!”
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