The Tamesis
By all accounts, 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for KNWLS’s Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault. The brand, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year, has launched a compelling and best-selling collaboration with Nike and launched a capsule collection with Miss Sixty. Knowles and Arsenault had a long run designing for a major Italian denim brand before staging their first show in Milan during Fashion Week in September. “It’s a pretty crazy time,” Knowles said. “It’s been incredible and we’re so grateful for everything, but having all these projects happening at the same time has been exhausting.” To better manage the workload, the pair decided to step away from their responsibilities at the denim brand, although the collaboration with Nike continues: When we spoke, Knowles had just finished a Pilates class co-hosted by her brand, and was wearing KNWLS x Nike fitness gear.
While the Nike collaboration’s clever blend of KNWLS’ signature lingerie details, corsets, and illusion prints with technical sportswear has made the collection a hit, for the brand’s fall collection, they’re looking to show off their subtle ways with historical references. (The pair often cite Nicolas Ghesquière’s work at Balenciaga as one of their north stars, and you can see it—perhaps most strikingly in their ability to blend the past with the futuristic while deftly avoiding anything that might come across as gimmicky.) There was a strong Victorian feel throughout, with strict waistlines, puff sleeves, ruffles, and a palette of black, brown, and gray. Still, it’s full of the sex appeal at the heart of KNWLS: say, a leather bustier with antique lingerie-style pleats across the chest, or a killer leather jacket with extra-wide short sleeves and a detachable collar inspired by historical pleats, cut from turned nappa leather and then bonded to neoprene for a beautifully fluid, sculptural feel.
Elsewhere, the pair developed a series of prints from vintage men’s pocket squares, then applied them to sheer shirts and skirts that were sewn together with harness-like collars, belts and collars, or a slip dress inspired by antique 1930s lingerie, which seemed to have been cut open and then reattached with hooks, buckles and string; a bit messy at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it was constructed with near anatomical precision. To tie the look firmly into the moment, many styles are also paired with a new belt, which will be available at an affordable price and features an oval lacquered metal buckle that looks like a miniature spaceship. (Equally pleasing is KNWLS’s unique take on the prep craze, thanks to some standout fine merino wool sweaters with striped mohair V-necks, belted tops, and cinched waists.) The designer duo has been vocal over the past few years about elevating their offerings to appeal to a more mature clientele, and they’ve accomplished that: It’s especially evident now that their main collection can be viewed alongside slimmer silhouettes. Their collaboration with Nike.
All of this was presented in a lavishly equipped pop-up store off Denmark Street rather than a fashion show. The collection’s lookbook, shot by photographer and director Aidan Zamiri, is displayed on the walls in polished metal frames, surrounded by artworks from artists from its wider community of friends and collaborators, as well as thoughtfully designed desks by much-loved booksellers Studio Nocturne, as well as accordion railings and industrial-style dressing rooms by designer Emilia Margulies, which will then be transported to the KNWLS studio to create a more formal fitting space. “It’s really exciting to be able to create this little world and bring in all the people we admire and respect,” Knowles said. If the focus in 2026 is on finding balance on the Pilates mat or elsewhere, Knowles and Arsenault are off to a good start.
