Puig-owned Jean Paul Gaultier is collaborating with London-based womenswear brand KNWLS on a collection of over 40 tops, jackets, trousers and dresses, set to debut on Sept. 8. The items are priced €290 to €2700 ($319 to $3000), and will be sold at Ssense, MyTheresa, The Webster, FWRD and Net-A-Porter.
The labels will host a kick-off with Ssense during New York Fashion Week, and KNWLS will include a few pieces in its September show. The collection draws out common threads between the two brands, including their use of prints and grunge elements, said KNWLS designer Alexandre Arsenault, who co-founded the label with designer and partner Charlotte Knowles.
”We wanted to find that world in between that feels very KNWLS and very Jean Paul Gaultier at the same time,” said Arsenault. “It feels like it could be part of the Jean Paul Gaultier archive already — but also the KNWLS archive.”
After meeting at Central Saint Martins, Arsenault and Knowles and created KNWLS around the idea of a dangerous woman. The brand, known for its prints and layered, corset-inspired silhouettes, quickly became popular among it-girls like Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid. The label has made its way to the Instagrams of Dua Lipa and Beyonce. Last year, the designers received the inaugural grant awarded by talent incubator Fashion East.
Knowles, Arsenault and Florence Tétier, Jean Paul Gaultier’s creative director since 2021, have actually collaborated before: Tétier made jewellery for one of KNWLS’s early shows.
”Their world is really connected to the legacy of Jean Paul Gaultier and it made total sense to give birth to this collection inspired by the very specific vision of the women’s body both brands have,” said Tétier in a statement.
Jean Paul Gaultier has also collaborated with Glenn Martens, Chitose Abe and Olivier Rousteing in the past few years. The brand tapped Haider Ackermann as guest designer for a couture collection in January
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