In a retelling of powerful, personal stories, AWAN put its models' experiences centre stage at Oslo Runway
This season, As We Are Now (better known as AWAN) presented a collection of powerful stories. Tapping into personal retellings of hardship and accomplishment, founder Anette Miwa Dimmen invited a line-up of models who had a core roster of messages to convey. Spanning health struggles and teen pregnancies, career lows and breast cancer, they were stories of perseverance.
Actress Iman Meskini of Skam fame was one of the inspiring individuals. First to step onto the runway, she was tasked with reading the models’ stories out loud, her clear voice echoing throughout the white-walled space. Dressed in AWAN’s signature “flow” wardrobe concept (where every piece should make the wearer feel good about themselves), of course. “My inspiration and consideration for each of our styles is always the women who will wear them,” says Dimmen. “Will this piece make a woman feel good about herself? Will she wear this and feel free, comfortable and confident in most situations?”
Instead, the brand introduces new styles, colours and upgrades based on a co-creational dialogue with its community, testing each out in small preorder batches before finally including them in the permanent collections. As Dimmen points out: “By allowing data and our community to become a part of our creative process, we aim to only produce what we know our customers want, which minimises overproduction significantly.”
AWAN is all about the drape. “There are no bells and whistles. No zippers, buttons or other ornaments,” says Dimmen. Predominantly made from Tencel lyocell – a stretchy, biodegradable wood fibre – the pieces softly skim the body, with breathable high-performance qualities. The colours are plucked from a neutral palette: black, white, stormy deep blue and olive green.
Narrow – “but not tight” as Dimmen is quick to point out – the slip dresses and kaftans move with its wearer. “It is impossible to find one style to fit every woman as we are all so different in our relationships with our bodies, our personal styles and lifestyles,” says Dimmen. “But we believe AWAN has the perfect dress or set for every body type and preference.”
Explore the images from AWAN’s Oslo Runway 2023 presentation below:
AWAN SS24
