KNWLS Makes a Triumphant Return to London Fashion Week for SS27 with a Tribute to Bettina Rheims

In a welcome homecoming that thrilled the capital’s style set, KNWLS marked its official return to the London Fashion Week schedule with a powerful Spring/Summer 2027 collection. Last September, designers Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault ventured to Milan to debut their high-profile KNWLS x Nike collaborative collection, a temporary departure that left London’s fashion community eager for their local comeback. Yesterday afternoon, that decade-long courtship of the city’s coolest figures bore fruit as a star-studded crowd turned out in force to witness the brand’s much-anticipated runway presentation at a southeast London venue.

The front row reflected the brand’s distinct cultural gravity, featuring a diverse lineup of notable figures including model Alva Claire, rapper Deto Black, singer Crystal Murray, athlete Amy Hunt, and power couple Lava La Rue and Rhian Teasdale. Enhancing the immersive atmosphere of the venue, cult fragrance brand Escentric Molecules drifted through the space with its signature Escentric 01 scent, an innovative formula designed to adapt uniquely to each individual wearer—a fitting touch for a varied and dynamic front row.

The Art of Coming Undone: Channeling Bettina Rheims

“With its Spring/Summer 2027 collection, the KNWLS heroine comes undone,” read the show notes placed upon the seats, setting the tone for a presentation deeply inspired by Bettina Rheims’ seminal photographic series, Chambre Close. The legendary book of portraits, known for depicting women in various, striking states of undress, provided a thematic blueprint for an exploration of vulnerability, exposure, and control.

The runway performance began with a striking opening look: a model appeared in a cream girdle paired with a white skirt held up by garter clips, unhitched deliberately on one side to reveal white briefs underneath. Throughout the lineup, garments played with visual expectations. Vest straps slid suggestively from shoulders, camisoles and T-shirts were slashed with daring peekaboo openings, and an exposed bra peeked out from beneath a casual purple cardigan.

“Exposure becomes an essential feature of KNWLS’ language of empowerment,” the designers explained, establishing a dialogue between what is shown and what is concealed.

Phantom Tulle and Invisible Wire: Deconstructing the Illusion

However, as is often the case with the meticulous craftsmanship of KNWLS, a closer inspection of the garments revealed that all was not as it initially seemed. While the collection played heavily on the visual motif of disarray, the apparent dishevelment was carefully engineered through advanced garment construction.

The dramatic slashes across the tops and camisoles were not tears at all, but rather precisely inserted panels of sheer fabric, stitched intricately to create the convincing illusion that the clothes had been ripped open. Similarly, skirts that appeared to be casually sliding down to the ankles were securely held in place by invisible sheer panelling. Hemlines that seemed to float upward miraculously were anchored by boned hems, while delicate metal wires kept fallen straps suspended just below the collarbones.

“Held together by silent architectures of phantom tulle and invisible wire, undoneness is an illusion,” the show notes elaborated, highlighting the technical mastery underpinning the raw aesthetic.

Redefining Empowered Femininity

Through this sophisticated sleight of hand, Knowles and Arsenault successfully handed the narrative power back to the wearer. The apparent vulnerability or “undoneness” of the KNWLS woman is revealed to be a carefully orchestrated deception, granting her absolute authority over her own presentation and exposure.

“Rather than a mark of dishevelment or decline, it’s a reflection of an exacting self-possession and control, of a cunning knack for twisting and perverting expected presentations of empowered femininity,” concluded the designers, summarizing the conceptual core of the collection. “Of the power to be found in moments of slippage, unravelling and reconstruction.”

With this triumphant London return, KNWLS has once again proven its ability to challenge conventional fashion tropes, merging precise tailoring with an unapologetic, rebellious spirit that continues to define the cutting edge of contemporary British design.