Charlotte Knowles is left-handed. Alexandre Arsenault is right-handed. This isn’t just anatomical trivia, it’s the architecture of how London-born label KNWLS is built – a duality of instinct and precision, past and future, sensuality and control.

On today’s Zoom call, Arsenault is in Milan, working on the duo’s mysterious, soon-to-be-revealed design direction job for one of the Italian houses, while Knowles is back in the KNWLS studio in South Bermondsey – a warehouse-style artist hub they’ve worked out of for the past eight years. The split-screen dynamic mirrors a larger shift, as the label officially moves from the London Fashion Week schedule to the official calendar in Milan.

“There’s not that many brands [in Milan] doing that kind of English counter-cultural thing from a very feminine point of view,” Arsenault says. “So we thought there may be a nice opportunity there to connect with new people, a new audience, but also make the brand feel more international.” It’s forced them to evolve the way they work, with an emphasis on strategy. “There’s absolutely no way we could do it if it was just one of us,” says Knowles. Arsenault agrees: “It’s made us behave more like creative directors. The vision has to be clearer from the beginning. Planning has to be sharper.”

That world is meticulously built, with Knowles pulling references like an archaeologist. “I feel like I’m quite good at finding the really rogue, random things that are quite unique,” she says. “I’m always looking for unusual things, like a 300-year-old piece of underwear that’s just so specific you’ve never seen anything like it. Then Alex helps bring it back to reality.” She cites a recent autumn/winter 2025 piece – a leather bodice with seams sewn on the outside – as the result of a deep dive into Victorian jacket construction. “We were looking at the boning, how the insides were finished, and translating it into something that felt lived-in and raw.”

The title of that collection, Baby, is a nod to the noughties clothing brand Baby Phat, and mines early-2000s silhouettes. Think chunky metal studs, Juicy Couture-style track sets, puffers and two-piece leather sets.

The Y2K references have become a mainstay for the brand. Recurring motifs include bias-cut dresses, ultra-low waists, corsetry and skirts the width of belts – the latter is a personal reference point for both designers. “I was kind of an Indie Sleaze girl,” Knowles laughs. “Into Skins, with a bandana in my hair, an old slip dress, vintage scarf, Reeboks, Adidas.” She admired her friends’ older sisters who wore Miss Sixty and the fated Baby Phat. Arsenault’s 2000s were shaped in Montreal suburbia by Japanese video games, collecting reptiles with friends in the woods and music. “Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake… even David and Victoria Beckham – that era really formed our perspective.” Knowles adds: “That was kind of the challenge of AW25, to take something that could feel a bit dépassé and make it feel relevant again.”

They did it by manipulating silhouette and texture; Y2K with a grunge twist. While their output looks aggressive, sexy, even dangerous, it’s always considered, never objectifying. “If there’s a reveal or a cut-out, there’s always going to be something that makes it a bit weird,” says Knowles. “If it’s a corset, there’s an element of stretch.” And this is the KNWLS formula: subvert the object, sharpen the edge and dare you to look away.