John Lawrence Sullivan brought absolute fire to Berlin Fashion Week this season with their Spring/Summer 2027 collection, and it was easily one of our absolute favourite collections of the entire week. We are completely in love with it. Founded in Tokyo in 2003 by former professional boxer Arashi Yanagawa, the brand has long been revered for its razor-sharp tailoring and fearless exploration of gender, identity, and strength. This season, titled “Androgyny,” took that subversion to a whole new level.
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Photos by Anna Nowalska-Duda @baro_nova
The collection treats the body as a site of beautiful ambiguity, where seemingly contradictory forces, strength and fragility, liberation and restraint, masculinity and femininity, coexist within a single form. Taking its cue from Modern Lovers (1990), the iconic portrait series by French photographer Bettina Rheims, the garments present forms of self-expression that completely bypass established societal norms.
The boundaries of conventional gender codes were intentionally blurred: the menswear line introduced boat slit-neck tops, shorts constructed to mimic skirts, and heeled footwear, while the womenswear category subverted traditional masculine military attire into exaggerated double-cuff shirts and mini-length jumpsuits. This androgynous dialogue was further amplified by the textiles, utilising raschel lace, net tulle, crushed velvet, and patent finishes.
A particularly brilliant layer of the collection examined the Japanese concept of shibari—a word pulling double duty here to describe both the structural constraints of precision tailoring and the physical act of binding the body. Inspired by the bondage drawings of Nancy Grossman, tailored jackets and coats featured self-fabric tapes extending from beneath the lapels, merging tailored discipline with physical restraint. Symbolising transformation, snake and lizard patterns alongside python leather wrapped the accessories as a protective “second skin.”
Capturing every single ounce of this electric, defiant energy, backstage photographer Anna Nowalska-Duda was behind the scenes. Her incredible photos perfectly document the tactile complexity, the raw bondage detailing, and the sharp silhouettes that made John Lawrence Sullivan the ultimate standout show of the season.
