Fruché presented KLEG for Spring/Summer 2027, a collection that explores body image, self-perception, and the beauty found in human difference. The title comes from a Nigerian Pidgin term for knock knees, but it is also used to describe something that is not quite right. The collection reclaims the word, turning it into a celebration of individuality and the imperfect nature of being human.

The starting point is personal. While developing the collection, the designer found himself thinking back to a time when he was least conscious of his body: school years, when everyone wore uniforms and appearance felt secondary to belonging. Gingham, one of the most common fabrics used for school uniforms across Nigeria, became a symbol of adolescence and a time before self-consciousness. The fabric is reimagined through woven Aso Oke and resist-dyed Adire, transforming something humble into something rooted in Nigerian craft.

The silhouettes embrace distortion and exaggerated proportions, drawing from the physical features people often become preoccupied with: scars, bow legs, knock knees, bumps, moles, receding hairlines, full lips, broad noses. Rather than hiding these, the collection invites them to be seen as markers of identity. Traditional techniques run throughout: wood carving, hand-woven Aso Oke, resist-dyed Adire, beadwork, and wooden chimes worn by cultural dancers, reinterpreted as wearable art.

The collection also features collaborations with Nigerian artists. Fredrick Aghuno of Dricky Stickman hand-painted diverse bodies onto silk and Funtua cotton canvas woven in Katsina. Sculptors Emmanuel Opeyemi and Oluwalere Israel Adewale created a hand-carved wooden bodice and sculptural hats that sit between fashion and art. KLEG becomes a dialogue between past and present, where ancestral craft meets contemporary African expression.

Check it out below: