Even garbage can make a fashion statement. The runway of a Swedish brand turned trashy during Milan Fashion Week, which concluded in chaos as models were bombarded with rubbish, including eggs and banana peels, reflecting the designer’s response to online trolling and societal critiques. The grimy incident further highlighted the intersection of fashion, performance art, and taking back control of the narrative.
On the final day of Milan Fashion Week’s AW24 edition, Swedish fashion brand AVAVAV’s runway show plunged into disorder as onlookers began throwing trash at the models who walked.
The runway of Swedish brand AVAVAV during Milan Fashion Week concluded in chaos as models were bombarded with rubbish
Image credits: gettyimages
Image credits: gettyimages
The squalid event intended to underscore the harsh realities of the fashion industry. Moreover, the dirty nature of the show came as a response to online hate that Swedish designer Beate Karlsson has received from trolls since founding her brand in 2019.
To embody the challenges Beate has been put up against, an endless scroll of negative Instagram comments directed her way rolled up on two big screens, which were placed on either side of the runway, Dazed Digital reported.
AVAVAV has become notable in the industry for its creative approach to showcasing its collections with runway partly presented as performance pieces.
The squalid event intended to underscore the harsh realities of the fashion industry
Image credits: AVAVAV
Image credits: AVAVAV
Some comments that were displayed on the brand Milan’s fashion show read, “This is not fashion,” or ironically remarked, “Yeah, this is trash.”
Following the show, the 29-year-old designer’s point about online trolls was proven, as people on Instagram took to the comment section to write about how the drama detracted from the “boring” clothes and called the designer out for her treatment of the models, as per Dazed Digital.
A number of the show’s cast members reportedly confirmed that they had been briefed during the casting on what would happen during the show, and they willingly agreed to take part.
The dirty nature of the show came as a response to online hate Swedish designer Beate Karlsson received from trolls
Image credits: AVAVAV
Image credits: AVAVAV
During the show, planted actors initially threw the rubbish from the spectators’ seats. Eventually, other people in the front row also got involved, and by the end of the show, the catwalk was reportedly completely covered in trash.
Pictures taken from the event showed models splattered with canned tomatoes, mustard, and raw egg.
Beate wasn’t spared, as the designer didn’t make a clean exit. Stepping out from backstage to take her bow, a member of her team reportedly rushed towards her and smashed a family-sized pie in her face.
To embody the challenges Beate has been put up against, an endless scroll of negative Instagram comments directed her way rolled up on two big screens
Image credits: AVAVAV
You can watch a clip from AVAVAV's fashion show below:
Post-show, wiping the cream out of her eyes, she told Dazed Digital the presentation was “kind of inspired by medieval times when people would throw rotten tomatoes at performances they didn’t like.”
Earlier this month, it was in the UK’s capital city that fashion week took the industry by storm. London Fashion Week presented some of the most daring—some may say bizarre—looks to the fashion community.
AVAVAV's fashion show sparked different reactions
