Swedish It-label Avavav turned the classic concept of a runway show on its head at Milan Fashion Week. “The Female Gaze ” turned everything around: Guests walked, models looked. As always, the young label succeeded in generating a viral moment that was about much more than just attracting attention. The presentation and collection ask: how do women dress when they dress for other women and for themselves, rather than for the male gaze? This much can be said in advance: a lot more excitingly.
A good fifty years have passed since film critic Laura Mulvey wrote about the “male gaze”. Anyone who eagerly consumes fashion, film, art and culture knows that even after half a century, the male gaze is still omnipresent. At least the female gaze is now also being discussed and actively used, while the male gaze, which is often regarded as the neutral status quo, is being critically scrutinized.
Beate Skonare Karlsson, designer and creative director of her label Avavav, called her fall/winter 2026 presentation at Milan Fashion Week “The Female Gaze”. In fashion, and especially at Fashion Week, the question really arises: Who are we dressing for? Who is looking and who is being looked at? “For this collection, I tried to look at women the way women look at each other – with curiosity, admiration and sometimes even desire, but without the need to perfect or simplify them,” says Karlsson.
Karlsson translated this way of thinking to the catwalk. Instead of sending the models up and down the runway as usual, the designer turned the tables: guests were led into the show individually – not to their seats, but right into the middle of the show. As a visitor, you automatically became a “model”, walking alone between the two rows of models to observe their looks. And were thus observed yourself.
The soundtrack was a hum of male voices describing their “female muse”. A veritable echo of all the narratives that have accompanied, shaped, defined and often restricted women from an early age.
Turning from looking to being looked at was certainly an interesting experience for the male visitors – perhaps even a lesson.
Rethinking femininity
The male gaze is everywhere, and it can be quite annoying. If we let women dress for themselves and other women, everything becomes more interesting. However, focusing on the female gaze does not mean destroying everything that is considered traditionally feminine. Especially not when you are bubbling over with creativity like Karlsson. She finds both an ironic and nostalgic approach to hyperfeminine elements. For example, a bra stuffed with tissue paper, which brings back memories of the awkward puberty years when you hadn’t quite arrived in your femininity.
The Swede is a master at mixing and redefining opposites. Classic suit pants merge with pencil skirts. What looks like oversized basketball shorts turns out to be an A-line skirt thanks to a constructed middle section. Oversized T-shirts retain their size but are cut to hug the body rather than conceal it. Avavav makes femininity more complicated instead of stereotyping it. Because that’s exactly what it should be: Anything but one-dimensional. Just as women are.
The young label has relied on collaborations since the beginning, including with adidas Originals. The collaboration with the sports label works so well that Avavav x Adidas Pieces have now been created for the fourth time. As usual, these are not overly sporty, but rather strongly Avavav-ified.
Those who attended “The Female Gaze” can count themselves lucky. Karlsson now only wants to hold one show or presentation per year so that he can focus more on other aspects of the label. And perhaps also to break with convention once again. After all, this seems to be working extremely well for her so far.
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Photos: © Avavav
You can find more discoveries from Milan Fashion Week here.
