Presented at the Swedish Embassy, Rave Review’s AW26 collection finds a more mature iteration of the upcycle-happy brand, which, ironically, found its inspiration in children’s clothes
Lately Rave Review founders Josephine Bergqvist and Livia Schück have been thinking about children. It’s no surprise, really; Schück has a toddler and Bergqvist welcomed her second kid mere weeks before the brand’s autumn/winter '26 show (Schück is handling the show and subsequent press solo, but the duo designed the collection together). Yes, Rave Review, once the purview of the sort of club kids who stay up past dawn, is maturing. “The brand has been growing up with us, in a way,” says Schück. Even today’s venue, the stately Swedish embassy, holds an air of maturity. The Deputy Ambassador of Sweden introduced the show, opening with a joke about it marking his first time on a runway before emphasising Rave Review’s inspiring sustainability values.
In approaching this collection, Schück and Bergqvist weren’t just thinking about children in the adulting sort of way. “The starting point was actually kidswear,” says Schück, clarifying that no, Rave Review is not making children’t clothes. “There’s inspiration from kidswear in terms of silhouettes.” She’s speaking of the sort of children who populate a film adaptation of an Astrid Lindgren story; the sort of children who more or less dress like miniature 1960s adults. “We’ve also been looking at dolls,” Shück adds. To emphasise this point, a backing track features children’s curious voices, whilst a live violinist and vocalist performed a magical ambient track.
The reference gives way to silhouettes not previously explored by Rave Review. Take, for instance, the darling A-line dresses, with tartan textile flourishes, or the bulbous brown corduroy dress, finished with covered buttons (the look conjures the notion of a massive pillow, a cheeky nod to the brand’s continued use of upcycled home textiles). While recent Rave Review collections have explored diagonal seems or unusual hems, this time around the pieces are notably symmetrical, not to mention rendered in a subdued palette of black and grey. Prints – typically the brand’s calling card – are largely used as accents.
A cleaner canvas allows for more experimentation with form and function. “A lot of the pieces can be adjusted,” notes Schück. A simple shift dress can be worn long, with gentle ruffles cascading around one’s ankles, or altered via a cleverly placed drawstring to become a micro mini. Trousers, too, can be adjusted for length via large buttons – when folded up, a subtle print is revealed in the lining. Shirting, similarly, has contrasting printed collars and cuffs.
So yes, Rave Review is all grown up, but it hasn’t lost its sense of play. Exaggerated trapeze dresses and drop-waisted skirts with puckered detailing that evokes ornate drapery added a bit of drama. Ideal looks for playing dress up.
See the full Rave Review AW26 collection below.
