Can heavy subject matter still leave room for fun? Priya Ahluwalia's answer was yes. Her spring 2027 collection, titled "Revel," grew out of thoughts about protest and resistance, with the Black Panthers at the front of her mind. Photographs of the activists' private lives showed her that public struggle doesn't demand personal austerity.
That idea - joy itself as a form of resistance - shaped the London designer's outing. Known for dense prints and embellishment, Ahluwalia pulled back on decoration this time, letting her construction skills show. Tailoring mixed with sportier pieces, including her ongoing Puma collaboration.
Standouts included trousers with wrap-around panels, satin tops ending in cummerbund-like hems, blousons with split sleeves, and a sharp blazer with a double-panel front. After the show, Ahluwalia told editors a subtle West African formality had surfaced during fittings.
Jacquard knit patterns drew on FESTAC '77, the pan-African festival held in Lagos, Nigeria. Ahluwalia said she used floor plans and bird's-eye photography of the event's architecture as her starting point.
A bespoke mural by New York-based Calico Wallpaper backed the runway, inspired by bodies of water linking continents - a metaphor for migration, community and her own multicultural heritage. "I would not be here without that," she said of migration's importance to her.
Jimi Hendrix's 1968 cover of "All Along the Watchtower" scored the finale, tying the spark of protest back to a collection about reveling in the lives resistance makes possible.
Originally reported by WWD