Knwls Spring 2027: Time to Grow Up

by · WWD
Knwls Spring 2027 Ready-to-Wear Collection at London Fashion WeekIk Aldama/Courtesy of Knwls

Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault’s Knwls has long played on tension, between shield and exposure, toughness and fragility.

For spring 2027, that push-pull came with something new: a fuller wardrobe proposal and a distinctly bourgeois edge.

“She’s a busy girl. She’s got a lot going on,” Knowles said post-show. The lineup expanded beyond the brand’s signature knicker dresses and ruched gowns to include a shrunken leather jacket, bodycon leathers, a ruffle-collar trench and a plush shearling coat that Knowles singled out as her personal favorite.

The result felt more grown up and composed, but without sanding down the label’s off-kilter spirit. “She’s growing up and is a bit of bourgeoisie now,” as Knowles put it.

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The collection was influenced by “Chambre Close,” a book by French photographer Bettina Rheims featuring images of women in various states of undress in an intimate setting that the London duo have had in their studio for ages and called “empowering.”

That sensibility translated into pieces that looked as if they’re slipping off, slumping and coming apart, but were in fact engineered using what the pair called a “phantom” structure. “Everything looks like it’s falling off, but it’s actually all suspended that way,” Arsenault explained.

Crushed-rose cargo pockets in leather, another recurring theme of the collection, were meant to showcase the idea of tough romance and nodded to Karl Lagerfeld and early-2000s boudoir nostalgia. Mesh and satin turned boxy suit-and-trouser sets into a more sensual proposal.

If early Knwls collections chased an almost unattainable heroine, she’s more grounded in reality as the brand approaches its tenth anniversary next year. She is now “the actual girl who walks on the street with a bit of French effortlessness,” according to the pair.