For AW25, London-based designer Av Vattev debuts a silver-studded apocalypse, where garments are adorned in constellations of hardware – studs, zips, buckles and grommets. This includes O’Keeffe-inspired hardware accents, first debuted in the label’s AW24 offering. An eye-catching nod to Bulgarian Gaitan embroidery, the chromatic hardware grounds the collection – presented as a lookbook – in an exploration of structure and rebellion.
Titled Rhythm, the offering explores dualities: uniformity versus freedom, precision versus rebellion. Layered crewneck jumpers – some laced – corduroy jackets and straight-leg trousers in muted blues, beige and grey soften the otherwise metallic intensity. Classic menswear staples – boxy jackets, pleated trousers, and crisp shirts – are dismantled and reassembled, their forms transformed into a sartorial rebellion that is unmistakably Av Vattev.
The brand’s mainstay accessories take centre stage, with super slinky scarves, slouchy bags and dual belt buckles outlining necklines, hemlines and waistlines. Elsewhere, Mandarin collars lend a razor-sharp edge to tailoring, while models, hands in pockets and eyes shaded, flaunt twisted utilitarian Gurkha trousers and cropped blazers. Flashes of indigo, violet and black patent leather trims also manifest as collars or in frenzies of fringe, fashioning the spirit of the ‘70s and ‘90s.
It’s a material manifesto anchored in Vattev’s past, present and future, with the sort of attitude that lets the clothes do the talking. The collection feels defiant in every chrome buckle, stud and stitch.
Photography courtesy of Av Vattev.
