- Falling into a swimming pool? Just another season at London Fashion Week - 30 September, 2026
- 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
Returning for his eighth season of London Fashion Week, Hadley Stewart shares some of his highlights from the Spring/Summer 2027 shows.
When you’re invited to a fashion show, there are some things you expect. There is, for instance, usually a queue of people waiting to get into the venue. Mastering the art of small talk, therefore, is a required skill to avoid spending twenty minutes looking at your shoes. The shows seldom start on time either, as frazzled latecomers scramble to take their seats, or a behind-the-scenes wardrobe crisis is narrowly averted thanks to a well-placed safety pin. What you don’t expect, however, is to fall into a swimming pool. Yet that’s exactly what happened to one unfortunate guest at the Ginny Litscher show.
When a stylist told me this story the following day, I must admit that it sounded too good to be true. A video then appeared on social media cropped to the exact moment of the splash-inducing fall, appeasing my scepticism. The catwalk for the Ginny Litscher show was erected over the swimming pool at the luxury Haymarket Hotel – the location alone, already fuelling the content creators seated poolside. With a glass of champagne in one hand, and her phone in another, the video shows one audience member seemingly not seeing the edge of the pool. Suddenly, her head disappears momentarily under water, with nothing but the bubbles from her champagne to keep her afloat. Fortunately, she is promptly fished out of the pool by another guest. “It was a disaster waiting to happen,” reasoned the stylist who witnessed the incident first-hand.
It’s moments like this that truly punctuate London Fashion Week. This is my eighth season attending shows in the capital, and I must say stories like this one that lighten the mood whilst we’re waiting for a late-running show to start; or dashing between venues across London with nothing other than a slice of Victoria sponge cake washed down with a hot chocolate to keep us going for the day. Well, that and the inspiring talent of the designers who showcase their work in London, of course.
A model at the Alison Lai show (Manas Godora)Like every season, there were several shows on my schedule that clashed. Yet come rain or shine (or a near-drowning), there were certain shows that were non-negotiable on my list of shows to attend. The first of which was Poet-Lab, whose designer and creative director Giuseppe Iaciofano had just returned from a trip to New York, where he was showcasing his collection in the Big Apple. We arrived at the Bethnal Green location to an outdoor courtyard lined with two rows of chairs and a backdrop of a railway line. The sky appeared threatening, yet thankfully only let out a spattering of raindrops once the last model had strutted across the uneven concrete.
Poet-Lab’s London collection was different to the one shown in New York, which perhaps speaks to the designer’s range of vision and work ethic, considering the amount of effort required to put together one collection per season, let alone two. What’s more, fans of the label were not disappointed when supermodel and LGBTQ+ advocate, Elton Ilirjani (aka HANKO) walked the runway – an appearance which has arguably become a staple hold for Poet-Lab’s catwalks.
Poet-Lab was my second outdoor show of the season. Anciela, the sustainable luxury womenswear label, had opted for another courtyard in King’s Cross the night before. As a female vocalist opened the show by blowing into a conch shell, before providing the live musical accompaniment to the remainder of the show, the collection of South American folklore and experimental tailoring provided a bold colour palette throughout their collection. But midway through the show, black spraypainted tree branches were dragged into the centre of the catwalk by three models in matching coloured dresses. Quasi-orgasmic wails then erupted, as the models danced around the branches. As night fell and a cool breeze wrapped around us, I was half expecting the models to begin lighting a campfire to keep us warm. The show’s choreography certainly made for a memorable evening.
The next show on my list of must-sees was Hector Maclean. When asked how to describe the designer’s style, a costume designer in attendance at the show said he sat somewhere between Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen. His avant garde collections have seen Maclean being featured in the likes of the London Standard and Tatler. Yet this year Maclean’s show almost didn’t happen. The evening prior to his show, Maclean posted a heartfelt video on instagram. In tears, the designer announced that the venue where his show was due to be taking place in less than 24 hours had been cancelled on him at the eleventh hour. He asked his followers for help. The following morning his PR emailed guests to inform us that the show would now be taking place in a loft space in Farringdon.
It was raining that evening, so when we arrived I quickly unzipped my waterproof poncho (it looked like I’d just taken a ride on Disneyland’s Splash Mountain, rather than arriving for a show at London Fashion Week) and ascended to the building’s third floor. Once we stepped off the lift, guests walked through an office before arriving at the loft space. A mismatch of chairs and sofas lined both sides of the room, and were quickly filled up, leaving arriving later to navigate the loft’s low beams as they found somewhere to stand.
Any anxieties of the last-minute venue change quickly dissipated as soon as the first model walked the runway. Maclean’s stellar collection was in-keeping with his previous work, and cheers from the crowd filled the space as Maclean walked down the catwalk at the end of the show – much to the relief, I’m sure, of his closest fans.
Elsewhere, and at a familiar venue in Shoreditch, Fashion Scout celebrated 20 years of discovering, championing and showcasing emerging talent during London Fashion Week. Since its creation in 2006, Fashion Scout has supported over 1,500 designers from more than 70 countries. This season saw the collective put on catwalk shows, which I had the pleasure of attending, alongside presentations and international exhibitions that brought together over 40 designers from 15 countries.
Speaking of international exhibitions, Beyond Limits, an exhibition of Polish visionaries, featured the work of 12 designers from the country. United by their independence and the pursuit of their own voice, the exhibition arrived in London at a time of challenge in Poland and fellow neighbouring Eastern European countries when it comes to self-expression. Something that caught my eye as I visited this exhibition was the work of fashion designer Kardasjan, whose collection ‘CASMIR’ is born from the designer’s experiences of queer identity and being the first openly-gay person in his family. His collection included trousers with multiple pockets for condoms, speaking to the visionary’s notion of sexual liberation.
The ‘Beyond Limits’ exhibition featuring the work of twelve Polish creatives (Henry-Morgan De Witt)Another familiar name on my show list was the Global Fashion Collective. Founded in 2017, the organisation provides a platform for emerging and established designers from across the globe. Taking place on the Sunday of fashion week, their show included garments from the Italian designer Maria Elena Di Terlizzi, Basotho label JOACHIM, Berlin-based Spiky Cherry, and French label OSCURO. Having arrived from New York Fashion Week, the Global Fashion Collective went on to continue its tour of fashion weeks, with its next stop in Milan, followed by Paris.
Overall, this season of London Fashion Week showcased the range and diversity that is unique to the British capital. Whilst New York is playing it safe, and our European neighbours focus more on sophistication and tailoring, perhaps London is prepared to hold a mirror up to the range of voices that live and create in the city. As we await the next season of London Fashion Week in February 2027, I wonder if this season’s cautionary tale will see an avoidance of water features at future shows.
