The H&M SHOWstudio Nick Knight show, staged at Kensington Olympia during London Fashion Week, opened with a ballerina and closed with a surprise singer in the front row, and in between it made a case, quietly but insistently, that the most interesting question technology can ask about fashion is not how to perfect it, but how to leave its fingerprints visible.
Titled H&M&YOU&I, the event brought together H&M and SHOWstudio in a collaboration over a year in the making. Brazilian ballerina Ingrid Silva opened proceedings; Labrinth, a past collaborator of the brand, closed them with a surprise performance that included a rendition of ‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ by Foreigner. He also curated the show’s entire soundtrack. ‘This project is blending genres and eras,’ he said, ‘blurring the lines between what’s physical and what’s digital, no straight lines, just time folding in on itself.’
What the H&M SHOWstudio Nick Knight show actually did with technology
The interactive technology developed for the event drew on two sources: fashion imagery photographed by Nick Knight and fashion illustrations by artist Cliff Warner. According to Vogue, Knight’s photographic works for the interactive featured Alex Consani and Archie Renaux, shot in-person in the studio. That grounding in physical, human presence matters to understanding what the show was trying to say: the technology was built on top of the body, not instead of it.
During a runway performance by Consani and Renaux, the interactive activated on large screens, allowing the two to respond to the imagery projected behind them. A separate element, built from Warner’s illustrations, mirrored the models on the runway as his drawn figurines, moving in loose correspondence. Crucially, the delay was intentional. Knight and the SHOWstudio team kept it in, a small act of refusal against the tyranny of seamlessness. ‘We’re not perfect; imperfection is what makes humanity beautiful,’ Knight said. ‘I did not want to make it a completely realistic version, it is a mirror of them.’
There is a whole aesthetic philosophy compressed into that choice. The slight lag, the not-quite-synchronised reflection: it borrows from portrait painting’s long history of interpreting rather than reproducing a subject. What looks like a technical concession is, on closer reading, an argument.
‘I believe that for fashion to be relevant, it needs to constantly change and push creative boundaries,’ Knight said, ‘and I’m excited that H&M shares that vision. Together, we are exploring fresh ways of liberating fashion, and asking questions of what a runway show could be.’
Three collections, a front row, and the matter of what gets sold
The show presented three distinct lines: H&M Studio, the brand’s Autumn collection, and menswear from H&M Atelier. Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M Creative Advisor and Head of Design Womenswear, described the A/W 26 collections as being ‘all about eclecticism’, ‘bold, and dedicated to self-expression, freedom and rule-breaking.’ The first drop of the Autumn 26 womenswear collection and the H&M Atelier menswear collection were made available via See Now, Buy Now immediately after the show on H&M’s online channels, folding the commercial directly into the spectacle.
The model line-up included Paloma Elsesser, Lila Moss, Angelina Kendall and Alva Claire. Kristen McMenamy and Karen Elson walked the show directly after their daughters Lily McMenamy and Scarlett White, a detail that sits well within the show’s broader theme of connection and lineage. The front row included Myha’la, fakemink, Tems, Audrey Nuna, Grace Van Patten and Cruz Beckham.
Event production for the evening was handled by My Beautiful City, according to H&M Group. The space was subsequently transformed for an afterparty, with sets from Kim Petras b2b with u.r.trax and performances from artists including Lexii, Matty Chiabi, Lagoon and Crystal Waters.
Consani, reflecting on the project, said: ‘Working on this show with H&M and Nick and seeing the interactive develop has been amazing. From that first day in the studio, through all the digital meetings, I have seen it change and develop, right up until rehearsals, and today on the runway.’ The first drop of the A/W 26 womenswear collection is available now across H&M’s online channels.
