FeedPauline Dujancourt

Pauline Dujancourt · SS2720 September 2026

Pauline Dujancourt SS27 the Bitter Tears: a Tear Library of knitwear where each design stands for one feeling, after Fassbinder's Petra von Kant

Pauline Dujancourt's SS27 show, the Bitter Tears, came in the same year she won the Special Prize at the ANDAM Fashion Awards, the French fashion prize. She was an LVMH Prize finalist in 2024 and shows with the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN support, which funds young London labels. What drew her to Fassbinder was that the story reflects his own relationship with another man, recast with women. She described translating that masculine world into a feminine one through flowers, which explains the set. The making is the unusual part. Her knitters in Peru, France and the UK film themselves working, sometimes in techniques that are new to her, and she studies the videos and adjusts a stitch or a yarn. The knitters are paid per piece and mostly work from home. Her stated dream is an artisan network of her own, "like Chanel".

The weekly

NewsletterWeekly One email a week. Every post from the week, and what didn't fit on a slide. Free. Never shared. Unsubscribe any time.

The post, as it ran

01PAULINE DUJANCOURT BUILT HER SPRING KNITWEAR SHOW AS A LIBRARY OF TEARS, EACH DESIGN STANDING FOR ONE FEELING, FROM DESPAIR TO RELIEF.

02DUJANCOURT IS A PARIS-BORN, LONDON-BASED KNITWEAR DESIGNER WHO LAUNCHED HER LABEL IN 2022. THE SHOW, THE BITTER TEARS, WALKED ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2026.

03THE TITLE COMES FROM THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT, RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER'S 1972 GERMAN FILM ABOUT HEARTBREAK, PLAYED ENTIRELY BY WOMEN.

04THE WORDS SET OFF HER SYNAESTHESIA, WHERE ONE SENSE TRIGGERS ANOTHER. SO EVERY FEELING GOT ITS OWN COLOUR, TEXTURE AND STITCH.

05THE HOUSE CALLED IT THE TEAR LIBRARY. THE ENTRIES INCLUDE GRIEF, FEAR AND BITTERNESS.

06THE PALETTE WAS PINK, PEACH AND PALE BLUE BESIDE THE GREY SHE ALWAYS COMES BACK TO, WITH WHITE AND BLACK.

07KNITTING WAS WORKED TOGETHER WITH STRIPS OF WOVEN FABRIC, DRAPING AND CROCHET, ALONGSIDE LACE AND ORGANZA.

08THE SHAPES WERE ONES SHE HAS USED BEFORE: DROPPED WAISTS, BARE SHOULDERS, BALLOON SLEEVES. THE SILHOUETTES STAYED AND THE EMOTION CHANGED.

09MODELS WALKED ACROSS A CARPET OF WHITE FLOWERS LAID OVER A CONCRETE FLOOR. FLORAL MOTIFS RAN THROUGH THE CLOTHES AS WELL.

10HER GRANDMOTHER TAUGHT HER TO KNIT AND CROCHET. THE LABEL NOW WORKS WITH A COMMUNITY OF WOMEN HAND KNITTERS IN LIMA, PERU.

Open on Instagram