'High fashion and low performance' was the sporting spirit of Avavav's spring/summer '25 collection
Countless designers have channelled the sporting world into their collections this season – not a surprising turn during a year in which Challengers, Taylor Swift attended the Super Bowl and the Olympics in Paris have brought sports to the cultural consciousness like never before. The latest to tap into the athletic aesthetic is Avavav, holding its spring/summer '25 showcase at a Milanese sports arena, the track lanes becoming the models’ runway.
Of course, it wasn’t without the standard subversive spin from Swedish creative director Beate Karlsson, who used the unconventional runway venue to set a mood of, in her own words, ‘high fashion and low performance’. After last year’s dark exploration of ‘online atonement’ and the previous season’s high-stress theatrics, it was a more light-hearted affair (reminiscent of her viral runway debut in which every model purposefully stacked it on the catwalk) as this season’s cast ‘competed’ to beat the 100-metre world record, stumbling as they went.
Most notable amongst the deconstructed tracksuits, figure-hugging slip dresses, and handkerchief or car-wash hemlines is Adidas’ signature tri-stripe and Trefoil stamp: marking a “dream” collaboration for Karlsson – and a huge step upward for the relatively small Scandinavian brand. According to the designer, the sportswear giant instructed “do whatever you want, but don’t f*** with the stripes.” Karlsson didn’t f*** with them, per se, but she was certainly playful: letting them trail off the brim of a cap as a trio of dangling shoelaces. Elsewhere, the looks appeared to bundle models in bandages, complete with bloodstains, which could be read as a comment on the dark sides of sports, fashion, or – knowing Karlsson – both.
See all the looks from Avavav’s SS25 collection below.
