Avavav SS26 has already been reduced to clear

Swedish brand Avavav is known for poking fun at the fashion industry. Everything that creative director Beate Karlsson does is laced with satire – and her latest collection is no exception. Today (September 26) during Milan Fashion Week, the brand has unveiled its SS26 offering via lookbook. Titled Soon on Sale, the concept confronts every designer’s greatest fear: seeing their work wind up on the sale rack. 

For those of us unable to afford luxury fashion, outlets like TK Maxx can be a godsend. My own personal discoveries from the store have included: Dries Van Noten, Jil Sander, Versace, Margiela, and even independent London brands like Charles Jeffrey and Simone Rocha. How they got there? Nobody knows. But for the designers, the image of their work being tossed into a plastic basket – while frenzied sale-shoppers hunt for bargains – is the stuff of nightmares.

In the Avavav press release, the outlet store is described as fashion’s ICU – where collections go to survive on life support. The lookbook and accompanying film is pure satire, critiquing fashion’s vicious cycle that demands constant creative newness. Designers, both emerging and established, are expected to pump out collection after collection – despite the fact that only 55 per cent full-price sell-through is considered a success, according to Avavav.

“Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about the paradox of being a ‘free creator’ in a system that constantly reminds you of its rules,” says Karlsson. “Without even noticing, I’ve caught myself following them – investing in shows I can’t justify as a small independent brand, designing at a speed I don’t enjoy, watching pieces end up on sale before they’ve even hit the shelves. It’s almost funny, if it wasn’t so exhausting.”

Though humour is central to Karlsson’s work, every joke is a way for her to address issues within the industry. “I think many of us are stuck in that contradiction: wanting to create something authentic, while adjusting ourselves to fit into a framework that was built by big brands,” she explains. “This collection is my way of playing with that tension. By presenting new designs in a space that already looks discarded, I wanted to highlight how fragile value has become. It’s sad, but also a little ridiculous – and somewhere in that mix of exhaustion and humour is where I find myself right now.”

As exhausted as she is, that hasn’t stopped Karlsson from producing a stellar collection, built from her “drippy goth streetwear” foundations. Avavav SS26 throws the seriousness of fashion week into question, delivering an injection of fun, while critiquing the industry’s relentless demands. 

Click through the gallery above to see the collection in full