April 20, 2026 |
The UK capital is bursting with raw fashion design talent. From the engineered sensuality of Knwls to Steve O Smith’s drawn-by-hand expressions, the future heirlooms of Talia Byre and Tolu Coker’s memory-made clothes, London’s designers are reshaping the face of fashion.
Janne wears KNWLS
KNWLS
Knwls operates with precision and intent. Founded by partners in life and work Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault, the London-based label has built a distinct language around strength, control and sensuality that feels engineered rather than ornamental. The brand sits at the intersection of underwear, sportswear and historical dress, reworking ideas of femininity into something modern and empowered.
“It’s like a mashup of our two aesthetics,” Knowles says. That balance is central to the brand. The clothes are informed by two different, yet complementary reference points: Knowles’s upbringing around strong English women – “her grandma and her mum” according to Arsenault – and Arsenault’s formative years in Montreal’s metal scene, surrounded by women “in the middle of the mosh pit”. What connects those influences is a shared respect for confidence and autonomy. “The end goal of the brand is to create pieces that make you feel really strong and confident,” Knowles says.
Their shared visual language draws heavily from corsetry, lingerie and the historical underpinnings of women’s dress, but always with a contemporary recalibration. Victorian underwear becomes stretch; structure becomes mobility. Arsenault describes it as “using those old ideologies of corsetry being restrictive, and now you make it all in stretch material and wear it as an outerwear piece”. The result is clothing that acknowledges the past while firmly asserting a future-facing attitude built on visibility, control and choice.
Pop culture is a foundational influence, with both designers citing MTV as an early gateway to music, fashion and identity. “That was our connection to culture,” Arsenault says. Fashion followed soon after, through designers like Alexander McQueen and Jean Paul Gaultier, whose work challenged traditional ideas of femininity. Today, inspiration comes just as much from their community and online culture in the people they see, dress and imagine within the Knwls world.
Janne wears KNWLS
The pair met at Central Saint Martins and began collaborating organically while still students. “It wasn’t really a conscious decision, it just happened,” Knowles says. Their working relationship is defined by contrast and trust. Arsenault is methodical and strategic; Knowles is instinctive and hands-on. “I’m definitely a do-er,” she says. Together, they balance concept with execution, vision with follow-through.
That clarity was on full display in their SS26 collection, which they presented in Milan alongside a Nike collaboration (the brand has also teamed up with Jean Paul Gaultier, Miss Sixty and G-Star). The aim was integration, not spectacle. “We didn’t want it to feel like product placement,” Knowles says. Instead, they created a unified vision of “lux athleisure” filtered through Knwls codes. Nike’s footwear echoed 16th-century court shoes with corseted lacing, while garments combined bonded seams, neoprene techniques and sculptural denim inspired by girdles and wetsuits. Past and future were pushed deliberately far apart – and held there.
Now operating from a South Bermondsey studio with a 10-person team, Knwls continues to evolve with focus and ambition. Collaboration remains central, not just with global brands but across their wider creative circle. As Arsenault puts it, “Most of what we do is try to understand what the Knwls world is.” Eight years in, that world feels increasingly defined: confident, collaborative and unmistakably self-possessed.
Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 76 – CREATIVITY, CHANGE, FREEDOM – out NOW. Order your copy here.
LONDON MADE
Photographer THOMAS HAUSER
Fashion Editor TARA ST HILL
Text EMILY PHILLIPS
Model VIVIAN HASSE at Girls Club Management
Hair ATTILA KENYERES
Make-up PEGGY KURKA at Uschi Rabe using GUCCI Beauty
Photographer’s assistant JOHANNA KIRSCH
Fashion assistant TOMMY DOWLING
Casting WHITE CASTING
Production SONYA MAZURYK
Production assistant MARISSA LEITMAN
