Avavav: Beate Karlsson on the reality behind a viral fashion show

First of all, we’d like to know more about you. Who is Beate Karlsson?

Big question! I am an energetic person who has always been driven by creativity and trying new ways of looking at aesthetics. I also made a lot of music when I was little. Those are the two things I’ve been playing around with – making music and art, wearable crafts. I grew up in Stockholm with two sisters who are also very creative. And then I moved to New York when I was 19 to start studying fashion at Parsons, which was a teenage dream. At that time, my personality was based on ‘art or nothing’ – I felt I had to be extreme and dedicate all my time to it if I wanted to pursue a career in this field. But since then, I’ve had to work on balancing it, because it’s not fun when this job becomes your whole life.

“I think we’re still navigating into what kind of brand we want to be, and specifically how we connect our values and our creative source to also being a business.” – Beate Karlsson

You are originally Swedish, but you are currently based in Florence. What took you to Italy?

When COVID happened, I was still working in New York. But everyone started working from home and it didn’t make sense for me to stay there, so I moved to Stockholm. And then, after some visa issues with one of my jobs in New York, I joined the founders of Avavav through a friend. They were looking for a new creative to lead for the brand’s design team. It was very spontaneous at first, while I was still in Stockholm, but then they asked me if I wanted to come down to Italy. I started as a freelancing designer, but I was very clear with them that I wanted to put my designs into the brand, because I didn’t like the aesthetics of it at the time.

For those who don’t know Avavav, how would you present the brand?

I think we’re still navigating into what kind of brand we want to be, and specifically how we connect our values and our creative source to also being a business. It was founded in Florence because there are a lot of deadstock opportunities. And that has been a main part of us. We want to do something sustainable. Also, when I came in, we went into more extreme design. To me, producing in a way where we don’t leave a big footprint on the planet and not having limits for what design can be are the basics. You need to have a very straightforward strategy because you need to sell the pieces and not just become art.

“If I want to be a designer, I want to better the quality of the product, or at least it needs to be something that you haven’t seen on the market yet. Otherwise, it’s just set up for creating waste.” – Beate Karlsson

What would you say is key for a brand to be successful?

Because I started doing internships in New York at an early age, I quickly understood that lots of fashion houses don’t work how I love to do it. I was sceptical about the seasonal fashion cycle because everyone was so stressed all the time. I think you need time to produce something that is interesting and that contributes to fashion moving forward. If I want to be a designer, I want to better the quality of the product, or at least it needs to be something that you haven’t seen on the market yet. Otherwise, it’s just set up for creating waste.

“Nowadays, it’s easy for brands from our generation to work with PR and get views.” – Beate Karlsson

From Kim Kardashian to Doja Cat, many celebrities have sported your designs. How does that impact the success of a brand?

It’s tricky. Nowadays, it’s easy for brands from our generation to work with PR and get views. We’ve grown up with social media in our hands. But it puts a lot of eyes on the brand. At Avavav, we’re trying to move past that because our shoes have become more famous than the brand itself. There’s so much attention on them, that it’s quite hard to design other pieces as well because people only look at the shoes. And there’s definitely a customer for them, but they are not a product that we can mass produce – and it isn’t our like goal either. So, we need to find a way to make other products that also attract customers.

“As a small brand it’s critical that you’re smart with what products you produce.” – Beate Karlsson

I guess it must also be quite difficult to turn all this exposure into actual sales. 

Exactly. I’m interested in creating new structures for what a brand can make money from. I had this idea of a brand being made up of collaborations only, without your own production. It would give you the freedom to have an idea, go to this specific company, and do it with them. It would help with production because without a huge initial investment, you are competing with the big, established brands at the factories. And as a small player, we’re always less prioritised by them, because we’re not their biggest client. So, it’s even more critical as a small brand that you’re smart with what products you produce.

“The challenge is finding that balance between wearability and innovation.” – Beate Karlsson

You’re a creative director at Avavav and designer at Pyermoss. What are the biggest challenges of running brands like yours?

I see designers who are very good at commercial designs, and they come from a very different direction than I do. I’m coming from an art and fashion background, so it’s challenging to be commercial. I don’t want to be just an artist. I think it’s fun to own a brand and see people wearing your products. The challenge is finding that balance between wearability and innovation. Demna is a great example. What he does feels so normalised now, and almost basic because you’ve seen it so many times, but it’s so smart. It’s very hard to sell something that you wouldn’t normally want to be associated with, and he does it at a high price. It’s new, yet commercial.

“What we’ve learned is that we don’t want to release too many products, but actually work on perfecting them.” – Beate Karlsson

Is there anything you’d do differently?

Definitely! The last two years with Avavav have felt like five years. The founder and I are very different, which is good in one way but also a challenge. We’ve done things in a much faster pace than I wanted to. And what we’ve learned is that we don’t want to release too many products, but actually work on perfecting them, because those products that are innovative and wearable are the hardest to come up with. It just takes time. I want to put more value into those ideas and think about how the seasonal calendar works and work around it, but I’m not sure exactly how yet. There are a lot of more interesting and fun ways to work with fashion other than with the traditional seasonal calendar.

“I feel like everyone is craving money right now. It’s a hard time being an underdog and I’ve kind of had this urge to fake richness.” – Beate Karlsson

Your new collection for Avavav is called ‘Filthy rich’. What’s the main inspiration behind it? 

It’s recession. I feel like everyone is craving money right now. It’s a hard time being an underdog and I’ve kind of had this urge to fake richness. We’re living in a time where a lot of people are their own social media versions, and they are faking richness and luxury. I’ve gone from this green hair and hipster era to now having this urge to look like a very rich person who has no problems, kind of romanticising that lifestyle. For the collection, we’re doing this satirical concept around that same idea. We’ve created necklaces made of three Rolex watches and T-shirts with a ironic statements, playing with this status around wealth of the fashion industry. It’s all about looking like you’re wearing a million dollars, screaming that you have money.

Is there a piece you would highlight?

I have a few favourite pieces in the collection. And I do like the statement pieces like a cap that says ‘filthy rich’ or with a dollar sign. But the bootleg dress is also pretty fun. We also made these exaggerated faux fur cosplay moon boots. Those are one of my favourite pieces too.

“We don’t really have the budget to do a runway show, actually. But we’ve somehow managed to do it extremely cheap and it just worked out for us this season.” – Beate Karlsson

You’ve chosen Milan to show the new collection. Why?

Because we are based in Florence, and Milan is close. We have a showroom there too, so it just makes sense for us. I also think that our options would be either Milan or Paris, possibly Copenhagen. But we have everything here and it’s easier for us to do things within Italy. Also, as a young brand, Paris is too busy while in Milan there aren’t that many other small brands like us. Nevertheless, it’s the first time that we do a runway show. We don’t really have the budget to do a runway show, actually. But we’ve somehow managed to do it extremely cheap and it just worked out for us this season.

The day of the show is very close. How are you feeling? 

I’m excited. I think it’s going to be fun. Because when I think about it, it’s not me who’s going to perform. I mean, it is. But the models are the ones who will actually perform, and that’s going to be crucial for the whole concept. However, I’m a bit nervous because I haven’t done this before. I’m nervous about things breaking on the last day, and about models not showing up. Things that you can easily solve with money, but we’d need to make it work with what we have. Anyway, we also have this kind of play with failure and success in the collection, so if something fails, it might work with it too.

“I don’t think you need to do a runway show. If you’re working with wholesale and following the seasonal calendar, it might be more important since you need to meet the buyers and invite them to your world.” – Beate Karlsson

How important is it to show collections in fashion weeks? Is it really needed?

I don’t think you need to do a runway show. If you’re working with wholesale and following the seasonal calendar, it might be more important since you need to meet the buyers and invite them to your world. But it depends on what kind of products you want to sell. It also made sense for us this season because I have a concept that is based around a show, and a performance. Maybe next season we won’t do it if we don’t have a strong runway concept. Anyway, the best thing about a show is meeting the people in the industry. Florence is a small city, and there’s only so much networking you can do. It’s going to be fun to meet people in real life over like a glass of wine and be like “here’s my show”. But you don’t need it, and it’s actually very expensive.

What are the costs of a show?

From what I’ve heard, it’s around 30,000 euros for a very low budget show for a small brand. But we’ve paid much less. We’ve been very lucky, which is why we could do it. We are using the showroom we’re in, so the space is for free. The only thing that we’re paying for right now is models, which are all sneak casted, and some videographers and photographers, obviously. But other than that, we haven’t had a huge budget. We’ve really tried to do it in a punk, very cheap way. It’s going to be interesting. Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, in charge of the calendar in Milan, also gave us a discount on the fee.

Is there a good-enough alternative for those designers who can’t afford a fashion show?

It depends. If you’re doing a normal runway show, I think you may as well do a presentation or an installation. Maybe even invite people to a showroom where the clothes are just hanging. But if you have a strong concept that is built around a performance, a show might be important. For designers who don’t have enough budget, they can just do something on racks or a digital show, which we also did last time. They can even shoot it in a different way.