The KNWLS woman likes her clothes tight, her leather distressed and her femininity with a bit of danger attached. But for Spring/Summer 2027, Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault decided to loosen her up.
Returning to the London runway after two years away, KNWLS went back to where things started. With the brand approaching its tenth anniversary, the designers revisited Bettina Rheims’s 'Chambre Close', the photography book that had originally informed their Central Saint Martins graduate collection. Filled with images of women in various states of undress inside anonymous hotel rooms, it gave Knowles and Arsenault an opportunity to reconsider an idea that has always sat at the heart of KNWLS: revealing the body without making the woman wearing the clothes feel exposed.
Bras peeked out from beneath draped jersey and garter clips held sheer skirts in place over briefs. Meanwhile, straps slipped from shoulders and lingerie appeared layered, twisted and occasionally worn as though someone had got dressed in a hurry. One powder-blue jersey look wrapped around the body while exposing flashes of lace underneath, while a dusty rose slip dress was pulled across the waist to reveal the stomach.
KNWLS has spent years perfecting clothes that grip and sculpt the body, particularly through corsetry, engineered jersey and leather. Here, those signatures remained, but everything felt slightly less contained. The woman inside them hadn't lost control, she'd just stopped caring whether everything was sitting exactly where it was supposed to.
Denim was slashed apart and reconstructed around the thigh, while distressed brown leather was transformed into an exaggerated swing coat with sculptural lapels and puffed shoulders. The duo's time working with Glenn Martens at Diesel could be felt strongly in the denim experimentation, but it never overwhelmed KNWLS's own identity.
Crushed roses were painstakingly created from incredibly thin leather before being embroidered onto skirts and bags. Dresses that appeared to be slipping from the body were actually constructed from multiple pieces of silk and jersey lingerie attached to near-invisible tulle. A dramatic pink and peach lace gown peeled open through tiered layers, turning the collection's central idea of undressing into something considerably more theatrical.
After spending time working on outside projects, including its Nike collaboration and the designers' stint working under Martens at Diesel, Knowles and Arsenault have been able to refocus their attention on their own label. It was a reminder of why KNWLS became such an important part of London's fashion landscape in the first place.
