- Hosts of Your Internet Boyfriends are building conversations between straight and queer men: “It’s about being a good friend and a decent human being.” - 25 August, 2026
- Dom McGovern on being the ugliest person at a party, but still the most beautiful girl in the world: “If I’m going to be a pig, I’m going to be an award-winning one.” - 13 August, 2026
- Berlin Pride: vehicle crashes into crowd of people near route - 25 July, 2026
From London Fashion Week our features editor Hadley Stewart shares his insights from the runway shows.
For fashion designers, it’s never been more challenging to put on a runway show at London Fashion Week. In fact, many names didn’t even show this season; and for those who did see their clothes walk down the catwalk, the focus was very much on items that were really ready-to-wear and commercially viable. Yet in the face of a tricky economic climate, London’s iconic spirit of creativity and innovation in fashion was not be tainted.
Another season of fashion week for those who are fortunate enough to be invited to attend meant five days of trying to work out what to wear to each show. Having attended fashion shows in London, Paris and Milan, I would argue that London is the easiest of cities to dress for. The eclectic nature of collections we see on the runway is very much reflected in the diversity of dress worn by those who attend the shows. In other words, audiences in London can’t really go wrong with their choices of attire. Plus, the rain this past week did not let up. My focus, therefore, was seemingly on staying warm and dry (and trying not to leave my umbrella under the seat at a show), rather than looking effortlessly chic.
There were important moments for British designers and their houses for Autumn/Winter 2026. For one, Paul Costelloe, a brand that is synonymous with British fashion, opened fashion week with a new creative director. Following the passing of its founder Paul Costelloe in November last year, his son William Costelloe was tasked with presenting his first collection as the label’s creative director. The focus being very much on bold proportions, tailoring and structure.
Behind the scenes at this season’s Paul Costelloe show (Image: Paul Costelloe)Hector Maclean, another British talent, opted to return to London Fashion Week with a runway show in London’s most iconic queer venue, Heaven. Very much leaning into camp for his latest collection, it was perhaps best described by Tatler as “a scene of war-torn queer-chic.” Unfortunately, I was not invited this season – not the first time I’ve been deemed not cool enough to get into a queer nightclub. That said, I have had the privilege of seeing his past two shows in-person, and I have no doubt he brought his A-game once again this season. Comments on social media were overwhelmingly positive for Maclean, whose eponymous London-based label only launched in 2022. The future, without a doubt, looks bright for this rising star.
Not every designer is able to show by themselves at London Fashion Week, however, with some opting to join forces with fellow designers as a means of showcasing their work to the London-based industry and press. For emerging talent, this can be a lifeline to kickstart their careers in the capital. Fashion Scout is one such example, having been supporting the next generation of designers in London and Paris for over 20 years. “London has always been a city of discovery,” said Martyn Roberts, Founder and Director of Fashion Scout, in a statement. “As we approach twenty years, our commitment remains unchanged: to provide designers with a professionally produced, internationally visible platform that allows their work to stand confidently on the global stage.”
Additionally, international designers who are coming to London for the first time can find themselves struggling to navigate the city’s fashion ecosystem. One such organisation that is championing international designers is the Global Fashion Collective, founded by Jamal Abdourahman, the collective puts on shows in New York, London, Paris, Milan and Tokyo. Abdourahman also founded Vancouver Fashion Week, the second-largest in North America. This season, the GFC hosted their London show with four designers from across the globe, including Dunne Cliffe (Canada), SAYF (France), Alex S. Yu (Canada) and Olena Adam (Ukraine).
After the GFC show, Taiwanese-Canadian designer Alex S. Yu, whose brand’s philosophy aims to redefine contemporary womenswear through a balance of practicality and whimsy, spoke with me about the inspiration behind his collection. Having emigrated to Canada at the age of seven, Yu said that he initially struggled to fit in, “The collection is about me not knowing the language, not knowing the culture, having an imaginary friend.” He came to London from Canada with hopes of studying fashion at a major fashion capital, landing a spot at the London College of Fashion. Why London? “It’s a city of creativity in fashion,” he replied. Conscious of the negative impact the fashion industry is having on the environment, the Vancouver-based designer said that sustainability is always at the forefront of his mind: “We make sure that we make everything locally in Vancouver to minimise carbon emissions, we also minimise waste by using dead stock and only order fabrics that we know we will use.”
The deconstructed bow tie from Olena Adam’s show (Image: Global Fashion Collective)Also featured as part of this season’s GFC show was Ukrainian designer Olena Adam, whom I spoke with once the applause for her collection had dissipated. I began by asking Adam about the impact that the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine was having on her as a fashion designer. “Yes there are challenges,” she said, days before the fourth anniversary of the start of the conflict. “We do not know what will happen next.” Even two weeks before she was due to show her collection, a missile hit her hometown. She explained that despite worsening conditions in her home country, she feels spirits are not: “When people see ‘Made in Ukraine’… everyone understands that it is hard now. We have no water, no electricity. But we work, but we live and we are happy.”
When it comes to attracting international talent to London, one fashion executive explained to me that there are multiple obstacles dissuading designers from showcasing their work in Britain. Many designers, they said, are favouring other European fashion capitals instead. When asked as to why this might be, they replied that a combination of Brexit, tariffs and a loss of London’s unique identity in the fashion landscape was leaving designers to look elsewhere.
Why one fashion label thrives whilst another is thrown into the recycling bin remains the billion dollar question “Fashion is so subjective,” reasoned one fashion stylist attending a show, as she attempted to diplomatically dissect the collection we had just watched walk down the catwalk. “But that’s also the great thing about it. We can talk, have a conversation about fashion. Nobody has the right answers.”
Journalists and buyers aren’t the only people fashion designers need to win over; social media influencers and celebrities are sometimes considered as having more weight when it comes to defining a show’s success. The number of views on an Instagram or TikTok post feels more important than being featured by legacy fashion publications. But as a new wave of media takes hold at fashion week, those from traditional media outlets and experienced fashion industry professionals are finding themselves being pulled by the tide out to sea (or should that be pulled away from the front row).
In an industry which lays heavy emphasis on where you sit at a fashion show, the front row remains a sacred land. In the queue for one show, a fashion editor with some three decades of experience has seen his seating allocation move from back row to front row, to back row again. His seat at the table, he tells me, has been taken away. Meanwhile, his comments were met with confirmatory nods from his fellow industry peers who flanked him in the queue.
Perhaps the negativity from certain parts of the fashion industry towards social media influencers is misplaced. Yet it can also be argued that many of those attending runway shows are now transfixed by getting the best photo or video on their phones, rather than looking up from their screens to really experience the show firsthand. There were a handful of shows that I attended this season that saw photographers calling out from the pit to ask people to stop using the flash on their cameras or standing up during shows. But what is fashion week without a faux pas or two?
It felt like the sun coming out from behind the clouds when a model dressed in a Pikachu costume bounced out of the wings at the end of the Jimmy Paul show. The show provided a much-needed moment of levity to climax an already buzzing catwalk in a packed Protein Studios in east London. Those who managed to get their hands on the Pokémon-themed goody bags, were still proudly showing them off at another show the following day. It was certainly a reminder that fashion weeks in London are defined by their creativity and fun.
Designer Jimmy Paul brought some fun to the runway this season (Image: Olu Ogunshakin / Chris Yates Media)Fashion week concluded with the Burberry show, where designer Daniel Lee told the Guardian backstage that he had been inspired by watching the rain pouring down through the skylight in his studio. This season’s collection clearly opted to lean into the wet weather that has been pelting the capital since the start of the year. Not only were the models dressed in the classic trench coats that the brand is best known for, the runway was decorated in puddles made from non-slip resin. Ironically, the skies are clearing over the capital now that fashion week is over, and with Milan being the next stop on the fashion season tour, the waterproofs might need to go back into the wardrobe – at least for now.
More exclusive images from London Fashion Week AW26 are available on our Instagram.
