If there were an award for the most atmospheric and thematically appropriate location during London Fashion Week this season, the Knwls space would certainly be at the top. Their show tonight saw designers Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault take charge of the old Central Saint Martins building in Holborn, which has fallen dormant since 2011, while the former classrooms collect dust. As a soundtrack of krautrock and Swedish grunge began blasting from the speakers, chunks of crumbling plaster were shaken from the ceiling like a sleeping giant woken up again. And while it was the Charing Cross campus down the road technical hosted the school’s legendary fashion program (of which Knowles and Arsenault are also graduates, although they studied there after the college moved to the shiny new campus in King’s Cross), there was still a sense that the specters of fashion history were returning his corridors again.
Thanks in no small part to Knowles and Arsenault’s willingness to pay tribute to some of their heroes, many of whom once studied in the now cobwebbed rooms in which they exhibited – during a preview appointment they cited a wider list of designers emerged, from Azzedine Alaïa to John Galliano. “We looked at what fashion used to be, and what it became when we started, and where it is going now – and where We I want to continue with it,” Arsenault said. Knowles added: “It feels like a very elegant space. And this season feels quite elegant to me.”
It was elegant, but it still retained that signature Knwls energy and courage. Models strutted and vamped and gyrated in an opening series of looks that showcased the duo’s remarkable skills in corsetry: warped treated leather into artfully cinched and cinched waists, or gray terry tracksuits transformed into cropped hoodies and flowy high-waisted trousers, as well their deft hand for a bias cut, whether delicately printed slip dresses with fabric fringes billowing behind them as the models walk, or a series of more ladylike gowns, including one embroidered with floral beads. (But still pure: this is the Knwls woman after all.)
As for that sense of elegance? There was the playful touch of a series of helmet-like leather fascinators, which floated above the models’ heads like a beetle’s shield. (The hats were made by legendary milliner Stephen Jones, who came backstage last season to introduce himself to the designers and let them know he was a fan of their work.) Elsewhere, the duo looked back to the golden age of couture. , with jackets with generously proportioned shoulders that reference Balenciaga’s cocoon coat, or pleated crepe dresses inspired by Madame Grès. “It’s a twist on her style, though,” Arsenault warned, lest we take the comparison too literally. “It’s washed fabrics, sleek and revealing, and done with flowing jerseys and florals and split dresses and these Alaia-inspired hooded dresses, so it’s more of a twist on her style.”
As a final nod to the fashion greats, there was a bridal look to close the show, but again seen from the side, through the Knwls lens. With the boning of the corset made by Knowles himself, it was an object lesson in the questions the couple have considered about how to carry their reverence for fashion history into the future. The techniques used to make the wedding dress may be centuries old, but with the lingerie-inspired details and the Tencel fabric train that followed behind, this was truly a wedding dress for the bride of 2025. “I think last season we tried to make it feel more mature in a very literal way, by keeping the styling very pared down,” Knowles added. “So this season we wanted to take that energy and make it feel richer and fuller. To get back to what Knwls is all about, with the layers, the details and the sensuality of it.” They have resolutely succeeded in this.