Avavav’s Fall/Winter 2026 show in Milan was built on a simple but disorienting reversal. Instead of watching models walk a runway, guests became the ones walking, observed by two lines of women wearing the collection. The traditional hierarchy dissolved and a new dynamic emerged, one in which the viewer became the viewed.
Inside that inversion, Oatly stepped in as an active force within the room, translating the collection into three oat-based signature drinks that pushed the performance beyond the visual. The Swedish oat drink company is no stranger to unexpected cultural spaces, and here it embedded itself directly into the same conversation around exposure, perspective, and power that defined the runway.
Avavav Creative Director Beate Skonare Karlsson conceived The Female Gaze as an investigation into authorship and power within fashion. The industry has always depended on women, both as consumers and as cultural reference points. Yet the authority behind those images has not always reflected that reality.
“If we look at the modern fashion industry, it has always been centered around womenswear and the female consumer,” Karlsson said. “It is an industry built on dressing women and speaking to women.”
What stayed with her was the imbalance embedded in that structure. Despite fashion’s reliance on women, many of its most influential roles have historically been occupied by men. That dynamic shaped not only the business but also the visual language surrounding femininity itself.
“What has always intrigued me, though, is the contradiction within that structure,” she said. “Despite this focus on womenswear, the highest levels of the industry remain largely male-dominated. Many of the major houses are still led by men, which inevitably shapes how femininity is constructed and presented—often through a male gaze.”
The collection emerged from that tension. Karlsson traced its origins back to her education, where she noticed a disconnect between who made up the creative community and who ultimately defined its output.
“This tension has been with me since I studied fashion design,” she said. “Most of my peers were women, yet the power to define how women dress—and how femininity is visualized—has historically and presently belonged to men. The collection began from that observation and the desire to question what happens when that perspective shifts.”
For Oatly, the creative exchange aligned with its own trajectory beyond the drinks category. Known for building culture as much as products, the brand worked closely with Karlsson to translate silhouettes and textures into flavor and form. Rather than simply serving refreshments, Oatly positioned the drinks as an extension of the show’s design language, turning garments into something tactile and social.
As Rowena Roos, Head of Food & Beverage at Oatly, put it: “Oatly doesn’t just produce oat drinks, we build culture. We understand humor, experimentation, and vision. From the beginning, we saw this as a creative exchange. It wasn’t about slapping a logo on a cup. It was about asking: how does a drink carry attitude?”
Karlsson welcomed that approach. “Fashion can easily become quite insular, so I am always excited when a show opens up to something beyond our own industry,” she said. “As an independent brand, that kind of external support makes a real difference, especially when it turns into an unexpected creative exchange rather than just a logo on a backdrop.”
The idea of translating garments into drinks introduced a new dimension to the creative process. What initially seemed unusual became an opportunity to explore the collection from a different perspective.
“Stepping into the world of drinks and seeing the collection translated into three signature cocktails felt unexpected in the best way,” she said.
Rather than treating the drinks as accessories to the show, the creative exchange developed through close observation of the garments themselves. Details were interpreted rather than replicated.
“Oatly really immersed themselves in the collection and came back with thoughtful proposals on how certain details could translate into a drink,” Karlsson said. “I was particularly excited about the lace drink, which featured an edible lace detail wrapping around the glass.”
The gesture reflected the same curiosity that defined the collection. Materials, symbols, and familiar codes were not fixed. They could shift, reappear, and take on new meanings depending on who was looking.
