Welcome to Behind the Scenes, a series in which we track the designers as they put together some of the most anticipated shows of each season.
Visiting Avavav’s temporary Milan studio, two days out from the brand’s Spring/Summer 2025 show, I was surprised to see a model sprinting back and forth across the room. He was wearing an oversized blazer with the Adidas three stripes, layered with tailored Adidas track pants and Avavav’s signature claw shoes. “We need to make sure they can run in the baggy pieces,” said creative director Beate Karlsson, looking on, “so they don’t get caught [on anything] in the show”.
Taking place on the track in Centro Sportivo Forza e Coraggio stadium, this season’s Avavav show during Milan Fashion Week was a pseudo 100m world record attempt, with models one by one attempting to run the 100m in under nine seconds. Many were wearing a new Avavav x Adidas collaboration, unveiled during the show and dropping in November this year. Some tripped, some fell, some cursed at the commentator, one was even “sick”. “We’re not sure what to make the vomit out of yet,” Karlsson said at the fittings on Friday, “maybe Coke mixed with something? We don’t want it to be too disgusting.”
Adidas approached Avavav over 18 months ago about the collaboration, so she’s been mulling the show concept for a while, bouncing ideas around with her boyfriend (a film director who used to work in advertising), who’s helped her plan all her recent stunts. At Avavav’s SS23 debut, the models purposefully fell on the runway, many wearing the brand’s signature thigh-high fluffy boots. Covered by every news outlet, the show garnered tens of millions of views across TikTok and Instagram and thrust Avavav into the spotlight. For AW23, the looks fell off and fell apart, as models were blasted by an industrial fan.
At the last Avavav show (AW24), the audience threw actual trash at the models that Karlsson and her team had salvaged from bins while screens projected hate comments the brand had received online. “The last show somehow became a bit too serious,” Karlsson said. “That wasn’t the intention, but I think a lot of people thought we were making a statement about online hate. Which is true. But it was perceived as a serious campaign. I wanted it to feel more ironic. After that, I wanted to go into a silly period.”
This season, sport is part of the stunt. While many luxury brands try to create fashion-led performance wear when they create a sports brand collab, Karlsson’s Adidas collaboration remains firmly rooted in fashion, with tracksuits turned into suits and sneakers into stilettos. “There is something really funny with fashion trying to mimic sportswear because our sportswear is not functional at all,” Karlsson said.
She visited Adidas’s archive in its Herzogenaurach HQ in May and became inspired by the idea of “messing with” iconic, classic styles that are so recognisable, like the Superstar shoe. At first glance during the fittings, I spotted Avavav’s trademark claw shoes transformed into a sneaker, bags made with the shell toe of the Adidas Superstar, and gowns made from the iconic Beckenbauer tracksuit. At the show itself, one model wore a body paint sports vest, while many models held three-inch-long fingernails in front of their chests to look like Adidas’s three stripes.
It’s the first time Avavav has worked with a big brand in this way. Karlsson was surprised at the level of creative freedom. “Beate is a creative director who has a very distinct vision, which we looked forward to seeing applied to Adidas product,” says Torben Schumacher, general manager Originals, Basketball Partnerships at Adidas. “As with all our collaborators, we are here to be a partner and with that comes the trust in their creative vision. Beate has built a brand with a distinct style — one that is playful, rebellious, and unique. For example, her take on the Superstar sneaker, complete with a shell toe attachment featuring Avavav’s iconic four fingers — it is a perfect fusion of Avavav’s experimental spirit and Adidas’s heritage.”
For Avavav, the concepts are not just gimmicks for brand awareness; the hope is they will have commercial impact. “It’s such a turbulent time for everyone in wholesale,” Karlsson said. Avavav has 47 stockists, including H Lorenzo, Dover Street Market Ginza, Selfridges, Luisaviaroma, Voo Store and Slam Jam. The brand grew ~80 per cent from 2023 to 2024 year-to-date, mostly driven by a 280 per cent uplift in DTC sales and sales on the Adidas collaboration, which has already been ordered by seven stores for the November drop, including Dover Street Market Ginza and Slam Jam.
With this show and the collaboration, the brand is looking to keep scaling globally. China is its biggest market, representing 20 per cent of wholesale revenue, followed by Germany, Italy, Korea and the UK. The US represents a third of DTC sales, CEO Johanna Blom adds, which Avavav has focused on scaling in recent seasons.
Not letting the concept take over the clothing
It took hours of rehearsals on Saturday to get it right, starting at 7am on the track. One model, wearing an Adidas x Avavav cap and veil, practised her run and trip. Another, in the Adidas sneaker stiletto heels, tottered along the track toting her Superstar Larva handbag. Karlsson stood on the sidelines, watching how the garments move and adjusting shoe straps and headwear after each go. “Really impressed by the team effort today,” Karlsson said after, “things went smoother than I imagined, and luckily, there were no mishaps.”
Ahead of the rehearsals on Friday, Karlsson was relaxed because casting was complete. “I don’t understand why brands do it the day before, we did it weeks ago,” Karlsson said. It makes sense: Avavav models have to withstand a lot beyond the usual walk, so they need to find models willing to take rubbish to — or, in the case of this show, fall on — their face.
“We do a lot of ’street’ casting,” Karlsson said. “It’s a long process. And we sit down with the models that we want to work with, explain the concept and make sure they’re ok with it. Usually, it’s people who really like the idea of the performance. It has to be that way. We are very careful. As soon as we notice someone is unsure, we go another way.” That morning, one model had changed their minds and dropped out, after hearing more about the show, so they had to source a new model last minute who would be fine to run the race. “It’s a big process because they’re doing something unconventional. And this time, it’s going to be a lot of running in heels, so hopefully, they won’t hurt themselves. But they know what’s coming up.”
At Friday’s fitting, there were still some loose ends to tie up before Saturday’s all-day rehearsal. “We haven’t tried the nails or the body-painted vest here yet,” Karlsson said, “Mac is coming at 4pm, and I hope they can do the paint faster than us. It took six hours when we tried in Stockholm, and on the day, we’ll only have two.”
In previous seasons, Avavav’s hero products have been literally and figuratively larger than life. From the humongous fluffy boots to the giant monster shoes, the designer admits she used to be preoccupied with “artefacts”. Now, she wants to make products people can wear day to day. And while the 100m race is “silly”, it did allow the audience to see the clothes (rather than covering them in trash or blasting them off with a fan), which was intentional this season. “The runway show is marketing, obviously. But I’ve learned the concept can’t take over the clothing. This time, we tried to find that balance. You really need to see our products as well.”
She’s also refining categories to focus on hero segments like denim and jersey. “For designers, there’s been pressure to come up with something new all the time. And I actually think now it’s like the industry is sobering up and realising like, no, you need to really show what your brand is about,” Karlsson said. “It needs to be very clear because the minute you add different segments and different factories, it becomes a big organism that is very hard for a small brand to keep up with.”
On show day, after one final rehearsal (again, no mishaps), Karlsson made final styling touches backstage. Her team laid out on-theme energy gels and water bottles for show guests. And star Gabbriette showed up, wearing the Adidas collab. “I feel good, I’m excited,” Karlsson said backstage. Let the games begin!
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