AVAVAV’s Beate Karlsson: ‘Fashion week is built like a competition’

Fashion shows are taken very seriously by most attendees. A room filled with quietly judging eyes, searching for famous faces, influencers, industry peers and last season’s collections on the front row. Mostly, heads are buried in phones, furiously texting colleagues or sending copy back to HQ. A smile becomes a rare phenomenon, but rarer still, is the sound of laughter. AVAVAV’s Beate Karlsson wants to change that. 

The Swedish creative director doesn’t see the point in life without laughter, an ethos she carries into every aspect of her work, particularly her fashion shows. She’s muted everyone she follows on Instagram, bar the animal meme pages – because, as she later explains, if she’s looking at her phone, she needs to be laughing.  

Since Karlsson joined the brand as creative director in 2020, she’s managed to master the craft of creating a viral moment. From clothes falling apart and accessories breaking as they walk the runway, to audience members being encouraged to throw rubbish and models emerging from soil, we’ve come to expect a surprise with every AVAVAV show. But while these moments are executed with humour, they are rooted in important issues that Karlsson is determined to address. Whether it’s critiquing the pace of the industry, production systems or the male gaze (the theme of an upcoming collection), the brand is keen to share its opinions. 

Today (May 15), AVAVAV is also sharing its latest campaign exclusively with Dazed. As seen for the first time during the AW25 show earlier this year, season two of the ongoing adidas x AVAVAV collaboration will land next week (May 22). It’s accompanied by a series of comical campaign stills, shot by Lennert Madou, as well as three equally ridiculous short films. It shows high fashion characters being completely useless at sport – not unlike Karlsson and her team, who aren’t the most athletic bunch (according to her). You can see all the images by clicking through the gallery above, or read what the creative director had to say below. 

Can you tell us about the story behind season two of the adidas x AVAVAV collaboration? 

Beate Karlsson: We wanted to do something very high fashion but still play with sports in an ironic way. We always want to bring humour into the collection and to the campaigns. There’s something funny about trying to make sports more ‘fashion’, especially because our team is not very athletic. Our campaign slogan is ‘adidas for athletes, adidas x AVAVAV for everyone else.’ 

Do you have a favourite item from adidas collab? 

Beate Karlsson: Maybe the Superstar. The Superstar is my favourite shoe. It was the first adidas shoe that I got when I was little. It’s cute because I remember it as being really chunky when I was a kid, so I was picturing it as this animé shoe, which is how my exaggerated version came to exist. 

Why is humour such an important part of your work?

Beate Karlsson: It always starts with humour for AVAVAV. Being a small player, you have to laugh at things. You have to have fun to have the energy to do what we’re doing. Fun is our goal, both with designing AVAVAV and in life. Humour is a way to connect with others, so it’s a way for us to build a community. 

We always want to bring humour into the collection and to the campaigns. There’s something funny about trying to make sports more ‘fashion’, especially because our team is not very athletic – Beate Karlsson

But you also use humour to tackle issues within the fashion industry…

Beate Karlsson: For sure. We have a lot of opinions. There are a lot of funny things going on within the industry and with the times we live in. It’s easier to make an argument with humour than to be very serious about it. 

Are there any issues or topics on your mind at the moment that you’d like to address with humour? 

Beate Karlsson: We are talking about a few things. We feel it doesn’t really make sense as a small brand to put so much time and effort and money into something that happens two times a year, there’s a lot to say about everyone having their shows at the same time. [Fashion week] is built like a competition – it would be like if every musician released their albums in the same week. It’s a bit odd. We’re having conversations now about trying to do the cheapest show we’ve ever done. 

Would you drop down to one show a year, rather than two? 

Beate Karlsson: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Two times a year is a lot. We’re talking about moving to men’s fashion week in the near future, to make the calendar a bit more, and set up for success. 

Do you think the pace of the industry is the biggest challenge for a smaller brand? 

Beate Karlsson: It’s definitely a huge part of it, because of production and everything. There isn’t the opportunity to not do one season in fashion, at least in the industry, it’s very frowned upon. And for the brands that have done that, it’s hard to come back.

Do you feel pressured to go viral on social media? 

Beate Karlsson: I think if smaller brands put that much time and money into doing a show, it can’t go unnoticed. But I also think, for us, we now want to make it more about the community and the people we invite to shows. Moving back to how it was in the 60s and not trying to compete with Prada’s set design budget, because we’re just not there yet. It’s tenuous for small brands to pretend that they’re bigger than they are, it’s difficult to keep up with that. 

I know you love memes, what’s your latest internet obsession? 

Beate Karlsson: My whole Instagram feed is cats. I mute all the fashion accounts, so it’s almost only cat-related stuff now. If I’m going to spend time on my phone, it needs to be funny.

What are you working towards right now? 

Beate Karlsson: SS26, which is almost wrapped, and then FW26. I think it will be called The Female Gaze, I’m trying to think away from how femininity has been portrayed through the male gaze. I want to design for women by women – what is the female gaze of femininity? I think it’s an interesting topic right now, especially because the fashion industry has always been so focused on the female customer, but doesn’t have many female design points of view. 

That feels very relevant… 

Beate Karlsson: The biggest business is women, and has been forever. It’s a bit frustrating that it felt like we were moving forward and things were getting better, but now it feels like we’re moving backwards again. You can’t erase history, but what helps me is to think of the women who are dressing for themselves or for other women. 

You once said that collaborating with adidas was a dream of yours, what other dreams do you have? 

Beate Karlsson: Having as much creative freedom as possible is my dream.