Galvan unveils design collaboration with internationally renowned artist Alicja Kwade during Paris Fashion Week

London-based fashion brand Galvan and Berlin-based artist Alicja Kwade unveil a design collaboration during Paris Fashion Week. Entitled “A Space for a Secret,” the Alicja Kwade capsule collection features a limited edition of jewellery and ready-to-wear pieces, presented alongside Galvan‘s Spring Summer 2026 collection, which is inspired by the capsule’s theme and Kwade’s work.

All of the seven pieces in the capsule collection were designed by Alicja Kwade and Galvan Creative Director Anna-Christin Haas, based on Kwade’s 2012 edition “Entropy” – a real Atropa Belladonna berry electroplated in gold – reflecting her lifelong fascination with the process of galvanisation as a kind of alchemical transformation of materials, meaning the preservation of objects as a frozen moment in time. The capsule collection stems from a creative dialogue between Haas and Kwade that expands into wider themes such as witchcraft, power, perception, time, beauty, healing, and poisoning.

“It feels like a natural step to develop this capsule, including our first jewellery collection, as an exploration of a subject –galvanisation – which lies at the core of our brand and simultaneously holds such significance for Alicja.” Anna-Christin Haas

Alicja Kwade’s art questions systems, structures like time, social order and supposed truths of our reality. She repeatedly invites us to question them, to look closely at who defines these systems. This spirit also defines her first major fashion collaboration, which is evident in the new formal freedom the artist intentionally allowed herself to embrace the creative possibilities of fashion as a medium. The development of the pieces followed a highly individual and conceptually sophisticated approach, dissolving the boundaries of conventional fashion and artistic processes and allowing the artist to make this visible in the public sphere.

“Designing fashion for the first time was fun for me, as the creative process allowed for more playful freedom. I was able to freely engage with Anna-Christin Haas’s ideas and approach which resulted into a beautiful exchange. The resulting pieces mark a new kind of experiment for me — one that unfolds through the public nature of fashion within social and urban environments, engaging a potentially new audience, which I find deeply exciting.“ Alicja Kwade

The fusion of each creator’s individual approach gives rise to a new dimension. Alicja Kwade’s conceptual approach and artistic foundation merge with Anna-Christin Haas’s signature technique of sculpting on the body.

“It was a new experience and challenge to work within a framework where forms, colours, and shapes were predetermined by an artistic concept and story. Yet as we had both hoped, it led us somewhere unexpected. We always knew that whatever we created together should never be self-indulgent nor merely beautiful.” Anna-Christin Haas

The project was developed under the curatorial guidance of art consultant Anna Deilmann.

“To me, Anna Christin Haas and Alicja Kwade both embody the role model of the modern woman – one who has followed the natural call of her creative talent, with clarity and conviction, unaffected by societal constructs or imposed systems. Both stand for a new growing generation of women – aware of the weight of history yet no longer defined by it.” Anna Deilmann, Curator

The limited-edition fine jewellery line includes the Space for a Secret ring – a solid gold ring with a hidden compartment beneath a sculptural nightshade berry and its leaves. The ready-to-wear looks range from the first all-gender Delirium Coat featuring glass ocular prostheses (including the eye of Alicja Kwade as a self-portrait) to floor-length evening gowns lined with 24-carat gold, all echoing the clandestine theme of “A Space for a Secret.

All jewellery pieces were handcrafted by goldsmith Anna Auras (www.annaauras.com). Pre-orders for the capsule collection start on October 2nd following a launch event during Paris Fashion Week in the home of art collector Hélène Nguyen-Ban. The pieces will be released in numbered limited editions, available exclusively through Galvan.

About the project

The name Atropa “belladonna” refers to the cosmetic use of the plant, known for centuries as both poison and medicinal herb. Women would drop diluted plant juice into their eyes to dilate the pupils – a dark, widened gaze was considered seductive and desirable. The toxic berry thus becomes a symbol of ambiguity: beauty and danger intertwined, serving as a metaphor for the ambivalent and often contradictory relationship between the body, its health and its appearance in relation to idealized standards of beauty.

Linked to occult practices, witch rituals, and the knowledge of seers, it provoked deep mistrust of women’s independent power and wisdom. The figure of the witch stands (historically as well as symbolically) for female independence, knowledge and alternative forms of perception. Seers, healers, shamans, or anyone who eluded traditional power structures were considered dangerous. But especially the image of a knowledgeable woman, or simply someone who questions norms, was perceived as unpredictable and therefore fought against.

Even today, old narratives persist: successful women who embody power and wealth are often described as cold or heartless – a modern continuation of patterns of interpretation. The witch remains a figure between projection and resistance – a symbol of what cannot be assimilated – and precisely in that, a form of power.

The collection was unveiled during Paris Fashion Week with a party including Coco Rocha, Mona Walravens, Noor Fares, Giovanna Battaglia, Bianca Brandolini, Olympia of Greece and many more in attendance and guests were able to enjoy cocktail from Clase Azul Mexico