KNWLS SS26
Spring/Summer 2026 marks a pivotal moment for KNWLS. For the first time showing outside London, the brand landed in Milan with its most ambitious project yet: a capsule collection in collaboration with Nike.
The partnership merged KNWLS’ fierce sensuality and self-determined femininity with Nike’s technical mastery. Signature KNWLS pieces were reimagined through sports innovation: a bustier jacket and cargo mini skirt cut from lightweight waterproof check fabric threaded with reflective yarns; the Razr bag reconstructed in durable nylon and leather with a sole-like rubber base; sneakers inspired by the Air Max Muse, twisted with corset lacing, vintage football boots, and KNWLS’ Raptor heel.
The collaboration opened the door to KNWLS’ SS26 collection, a precise distillation of the brand’s fearless spirit. Time itself became fabric, with silhouettes that felt both medieval and futuristic. Dome-shouldered leather coats fused with neoprene created an armor-like shape, paired with sculpted jeans and sheer leggings. Blouses in ruched Victorian cuts, detailed with grosgrain trims, heightened the tension between eras.
Reinterpretation of house icons was central. The batwing sweatshirt morphed into a cropped trench with storm shields or a corseted catsuit in cold-dyed jersey. The bustier remained a cornerstone, now emphasized as craft itself, with exposed taping and grosgrain bands tracing leather jackets like sports stripes. Viscose jacquards treated with cold dye appeared as relics from distant times.
Innovation in fabrication also stood out. TENCEL™ fibers gave fluidity to shirtdresses and leggings, while scuba-style tops were engineered in cotton jersey to mimic neoprene. Bouclé coats and mini-dresses echoed KNWLS’ codes, as Flyknit reinterpreted bustiers nodded to Nike’s performance heritage.
Together, the collection presented a wardrobe for the KNWLS heroine: fearless, powerful, unbound by era or place. In Milan, KNWLS defined not only a season but a future trajectory, with Nike as both partner and catalyst.
