Couture is often seen as delicate and light, but it can equally be tough, gritty and grunge. Alexandre Arsenault and Charlotte Knowles are here to underscore that fact. For SS25, the KNWLS duo presented a study of their favourite couturiers – Madame Grès, Azzedine Alaïa, John Galliano – through their own defined house codes. Presented inside the now dormant former Central Saint Martins building, this was a lesson you wouldn’t want to skip. 

This season, KNWLS continued to reimagine everyday staples – hoodies, denim, halternecks, trenches, leathers – blown apart and reconstructed into incredible, sculptural silhouettes. Waists were worn low and leather bombers chopped. Bias-cut slip dresses rippled across the body, slim skirts were styled like low-slung belts and cocooning hooded dresses were contemporary iterations of couture classics. Hardened by biker, fetish and punk sensibilities, shapes were drawn with an innate sensuality – the signature corsetry, lingerie straps and lace – that elevates and empowers, while peaked leather fascinators created in collaboration with Stephen Jones instilled a sci-fi mindset.

Set to a brilliantly dirty and distorted soundtrack that finished with Swedish 90s band Yvonne’s track Drifter, the show’s finale look was major: a boned bridal gown with harness straps, cinched waist and ethereal mesh train – wear it to church, Christ alive!