Ahluwalia Spring/Summer 2027

For Spring/Summer 2027, Priya Ahluwalia considered protest, migration and human connection through a wardrobe that argues resistance does not have to come at the expense of pleasure.

What happens when resistance is allowed to be joyful? That question sits at the centre of Priya Ahluwalia's SS27 collection, Revel. Looking towards the Black Panthers and photographs of their lives away from activism, the designer considered the idea that fighting for something does not require a life stripped of pleasure. At London Fashion Week, that translated into a collection that felt sensual, confident and considerably less weighed down by its subject matter than the word "resistance" might suggest.

For a designer known for dense prints and elaborate embellishment, there was a noticeable restraint this season. With less decoration competing for attention, Ahluwalia's construction came into focus: wrap-panel trousers, satin tops finished with cummerbund-like hems, split-sleeve blousons and a sharply cut blazer with a double-panel front. Sportier pieces, including her continuing Puma collaboration, sat alongside tailoring, creating a wardrobe that moved easily between polish and ease.

The references were there, but rarely felt literal. Jacquard knit motifs drew from FESTAC '77, the pan-African festival held in Lagos, with architectural plans and aerial photographs of the site translated into pattern. A bespoke Calico Wallpaper mural behind the runway extended the collection's ideas of connection, depicting bodies of water linking continents as a metaphor for migration, community and shared histories.

That sense of connection ultimately became the collection's most human idea. Ahluwalia's multicultural background and interest in migration informed a show about the relationships that carry people across borders and generations. By the time Jimi Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower accompanied the finale, the mood had shifted from protest towards celebration. Revel suggests that joy isn't a distraction from resistance; sometimes it is what the resistance is trying to protect.