For spring/summer '26, AVAVAV pokes fun at sales culture, placing its pre-discounted fashions in the industry's most unsexy location: the outlet
Just as AVAVAV has successfully established itself as the brand with the viral fashion shows, it pulls a new trick out of its hat: not showing at all. Instead, the Swedish brand presents its spring/summer 2026 collection via a cheeky fashion film and lookbook, which pokes fun at consumer culture as we know it. Specifically, the digital presentation, released amidst Milan Fashion Week, interrogates every designer’s worst nightmare: going on sale. “There are so many things to laugh about today in the industry,” says AVAVAV creative director Beate Karlsson, when I reach her not in Milan but in sunny Stockholm. “One of the things is that a 55 per cent sell through at a store is considered a big success. The culture is to put things on sale.”
To visualise this cosmic fashion joke, Karlsson placed her SS26 collection on models imagined as low-budget mannequins (flammable wigs included), set amidst one of the industry’s least glamorous locales, the outlet store. One of the pleasures of producing a lookbook rather than a fashion show was the ability to meticulously curate every element of the image, from the slashed signage to the garments strewn across the space to the models’ uncanny poses. “We had all of the poses prepared beforehand,” notes Karlsson. “It was so important – even where their eyes stare.”
As for the clothes, Karlsson continues to explore the visual language AVAVAV has established over the past few seasons. The slashed rib-cage like expression – a brand signature introduced for SS25 – reappears on hoodies, a floor-sweeping maxi tank dress and spray painted on crafty crochet shirts. The smocked trouser, another brand signature, is exaggerated to new proportions, with denim and relaxed slacks pooling on the laminated floor. There are fresh silhouettes, too, most notably a heather grey sweatshirt dress, with puffed sleeves and a structured circle skirt, held in place with stiff boning. “That’s one of my favourites,” notes Karlsson. But the standout is surely that gala-ready glittering red sequin gown, carefully tailored to exaggerate the mannequin’s curves. On the back, the punchline: 80% Sale.
Abandoning the runway allowed Karlsson to lean further into her left-of-centre design instincts. “I’m very much a product designer,” she says. “I like to design an isolated product rather than a total look.” Indeed, when one thinks of AVAVAV they think of both the runways and the greatest hit items: the finger shoes, the Adidas superstar sneaker bag. “I really gave into what I value as a designer, which is silhouettes and figurines,” says Karlsson.
It’s easy to get caught up in the fashion rat race, and though AVAVAV’s internet-breaking runway shows have been good to the brand, Karlsson stresses that she’s never aimed to conform to fashion’s rules. “It’s so easy to get stuck on what other people are doing, but then you realise no one knows what the f*** they’re doing,” she says. “So we’d rather do what works for us.” With the Stockholm sun shining on her face, miles away from the chaos of Milan, going her own way looks good on Karlsson. And though we hope this AVAVAV collection avoids the sale rack, we’re sure Karlsson would find the humour in slashing the prices.
See the AVAVAV's full SS26 collection below.
