Priya Ahluwalia looked to resistance movements, friendship and the idea of taking up space for spring/summer 2027, presenting her latest collection Revel at London Fashion Week.
The show took place at the Rosewood hotel in central London, with Ahluwalia presenting her ready-to-wear alongside the third drop of her collaboration with Puma. Bright trainers and fringed tracksuits appeared alongside sharply cut satin, sheer dresses and sculptural skirts.
The Puma footwear came in silver, cobalt blue, red, terracotta and patent black, with contrasting stitched details echoed across the clothes. One model wore a black Puma zip-up tracksuit with white piping, layered over long black fringing that moved as he walked. Elsewhere, terracotta sportswear was paired with red-and-silver trainers, while a cream double-breasted suit was styled with brightly coloured footwear.
The combination made the trainers feel just as suited to tailoring as they were to sportswear, with the footwear becoming part of the outfit rather than simply an addition to the more casual looks.
Speaking before the show, Ahluwalia said: “This show will feature my Puma and Ahluwalia collaboration. It’s the third drop, so people will see that for the first time. So trainers and also ready-to-wear, and there’s some really beautiful pieces part of that as well.”
The collection began with Ahluwalia’s research into resistance movements and the people who fought for freedom. Rather than only looking at their public lives, however, she became interested in what those people were like away from protests and political organising.
“I started thinking about who are these people when they’re off duty?” she said.
That research included photographs of the Black Panthers, with details from their clothing influencing pocket shapes and other elements. Ahluwalia also looked to Festac 77, the 1977 festival of Black and African arts and culture held in Nigeria, drawing on its shapes for prints, knitwear and embellishment.
The references appeared alongside a noticeable change in silhouette. Dropped waists and balloon hems gave skirts an almost inflated shape, while fringe appeared across both eveningwear and sportswear. Structured outerwear brought back the nipped-in waist, while military-style berets and pointed shoes gave some looks a sharper finish.
“When I drape, I think about pulling and constriction,” Ahluwalia said. “Whereas I think that some of the pieces in this collection are about pushing. I was thinking about pushing into space.”
The eveningwear demonstrated that approach, with sharply cut satin dresses sitting alongside fuller skirts, sheer fabrics and cut-outs. One dark brown dress exposed the waist through angular cut-outs, while another look paired a softly draped ivory top with a long green skirt covered in shimmering embellishment.
Cobalt blue, vibrant green and sky blue provided flashes of colour across the collection. The shades were picked up in the set, created with Calico Wallpaper, where a large watercolour-style backdrop in pale blue, pink and soft yellow resembled a sky before sunset.
Ahluwalia also revealed ahead of the show that she already had a particular look in mind for Zendaya.
The designer, who dressed The White Lotus actress Aimee Lou Wood for this year’s Met Gala, also named actor Colman Domingo as someone she would like to see wearing pieces from the new menswear collection, adding: “I think what you’ll see is that the collection is definitely not homogenous. We have things for different people at different stages in their life.”
Ahluwalia described the collection as having “a lightness to it that perhaps hasn’t been seen before”, which came through in the brighter colours, exaggerated proportions and mix of sportswear and more formal dressing.