Loewe SS27: Casper Mueller Kneer builds circular arena runway

For Loewe's Spring Summer 2027 collection, architecture studio Casper Mueller Kneer broke away from the traditional single-plane runway by constructing a two-story circular arena inside a temporary white volume within the courtyard of Paris' Château de Vincennes. This setup allows guests to look across, down, and through the space at one another while models navigate the central area.

The design borrows its geometry from historic spaces where audiences traditionally surround an event, such as the Anatomical Theatre in Padua and London's Globe Theatre, alongside industrial gasometers from Detroit. The architects stripped these references down to white scaffolding and translucent fabric, creating a diagrammatic construction where structure, audience, and runway are read simultaneously.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

Unlike conventional long catwalks, Loewe's arena compresses distance through zigzagging ground-floor benches that leave narrow pathways for models, bringing garments within feet of certain seats. Meanwhile, an upper gallery introduces a vertical line of sight, capturing faces, bodies, garments, and scaffold components within a shared frame.