By Contributor,Dharmesh Rana,Laia Farran Graves
Copyright forbes
Burberry Spring/Summer 2026
Courtesy of Burberry
This season marked a new chapter for London Fashion Week. With the appointment of Laura Weir as the new CEO of the British Fashion Council in April this year, there is a renewed focus on supporting both existing and emerging talent. Positive changes have already been introduced, including the waiving of fees for designers showing physically, all of which has resulted in a busier schedule and a promising season.
Weir told me over email that when she first stepped into this role she spoke to as many British and London-based designers as possible, and that those conversations shaped the decisions they made this season. “The positive response has been heartening, particularly around the flexibility of the schedule and the removal of fees to show. Both have made the platform more accessible,” she said. She added that on top of that, they have doubled their investment in their International Guest Programme. “That investment paid off—it brought influential editors, buyers and cultural voices to London, and through their editorial and social coverage, our designers’ voices carried far beyond the shows themselves,” says Weir.
This view is supported by Dharmesh Rana, Director of Marketing for Premium Brands at Carlsberg Britvic (this includes LFW’s principal partner, 1664 Blanc), who told me via email that at 1664 Blanc they view London Fashion Week as an opportunity to celebrate creativity and share it more widely. “As proud Principal Partner, our goal is to make fashion feel open and engaging, whether that’s supporting emerging talent across the UK or creating spaces where the public can experience fashion up close,” he says.
According to Statista, the UK’s apparel market is projected to generate a revenue of US$88.86 billion in 2025. It is estimated to experience an annual growth rate of 3.39% (CAGR 2025-2029). In addition, despite losing its place shortly after Joshua Schulman joined as CEO in 2024, Burberry has returned to the FTSE 100, as reported on Fashion Network, boosting the brand’s market value.
Vibrant Statements: Color Takes Center Stage
Paul Costelloe show during London Fashion Week September 2025 at Palm Court, The Waldorf.
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London Fashion Week SS26 was awash with bright color palettes and unexpected hue combinations, turning the runway into a celebration of optimism.
Paul Costelloe’s Spring Summer 2026 show, Boulevard of Dreams, was an exquisite display of classic elegance with a youthful undertone. This season the show was inspired by Hollywood icon Sharon Tate, with the collection capturing the spirit of California during the late 1960s. It featured outfits in a series of sherbet pastel shades, including yellow, pink, orange, and blue, in French tweed, silk, and linen, accommodating both structured and fluid looks. Speaking to Paul Costelloe after the event, he told me that his show aims to project positive vibes—Valley of the Dolls, California, Rodeo Drive—very Americana, because he is partly American, but the West Coast is still foreign to him. “I’m an East Coast boy,” he said, and thought he’d like to express the West Coast attitude. Platform heels paired with mini, sculptural dresses were the standout look, and meticulously messy beehive hairdos, under the direction of Cos Sakkas, global creative director at T&G, completed the look. Cos told me backstage that it was the wild, young Sharon Tate who inspired the hair, a little bit “early hours in the morning”. The team employed a classic technique to create a coarse texture, adding finishing touches such as sweeping hair over extended eyelashes falling away from the ear to achieve a disheveled look. “It has a lot of feeling to it,” he said.
The Stephen Jones Millinery presentation during LFW September 2025.
Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images
Another colorful collection came from Stephen Jones. Titled A Rainbow in Curved Air, the Spring/Summer 2026 show offered a rainbow of millinery. It was divided into three areas: dawn, noon, and dusk, and included straw berets, straw sun hats with tulle shadows, and boaters trimmed with Petersham ribbon bows. At his Covent Garden studio, where the presentation was held, he told me that the collection was inspired by Terry Riley’s song A Rainbow in Curved Air, but he also explained in more detail his choice of color as a theme. Stephen believes that with the world going through a troubled time at the moment, the purpose of fashion is to cheer people up, and “what could be more jolly than wearing a colored hat? It’s a shot of adrenaline, fun and liveliness. If fashion can do that, that is the most fantastic thing it can do,” he said. His favorite piece was a pink hat in quilted satin with ostrich feathers around it and embroidered black eyelashes. He also pointed out some delicate colorful hats with flowers that were combined with black, which he thought would be ideal for Ascot.
Apujan Spring/Summer 2026
CHRIS DAW PHOTOGRAPHY
APUJAN, a brand launched by Taiwanese fashion designer Apu Jan at London Fashion Week in 2013, was another high point in the week. Known for integrating patterns and knitwear techniques to illustrate themes, the collection—inspired by the classical Japanese fairy tale Momotaro, The Extraordinary Voyage of Captain Peach—stood out for its bright colors, delicate use of fabrics and deconstructed silhouettes. This show explored the Japanese fairy tale through the lens of contemporary life and the various challenges we face today. The looks were styled with trainers, and when I asked Apu Jan backstage about this, he smiled and said: “I think that nowadays, when people wear evening dresses, you can combine them with sports shoes”.
Another masterclass in the use of color this Spring/Summer 2026 came from Ashish, by Ashish Gupta. Known as the King of Sequins, he casts dancers instead of models to perform wearing his beautiful collection, which he called Fresh Hell. The clothes were bold and, as usual, were made with great attention to detail. We saw magenta dresses, rainbow dresses, coats and separates, accessorized with heels or long boots in different colors. There was a rebellious undertone to the show which he emphasized as he came out to take a bow wearing a slogan T-shirt that read: Fashion not Fascism.
Ashish on the runway Spring/Summer 2026. Some of the items in the show were part of the Designer at Debenhams collection.
Courtesy of Debenhams
Modern Glamour: Timeless Elegance Reimagined
Richard Quinn dazzled the audience with a collection which he told me backstage was inspired by dressing for the opera. Noemi Campbell opened the show in a fitted, floor-length, black velvet dress with a wide satin collar, its black velvet bow displaying a contrasting white camellia. Simone Rocha’s show was also timeless in its feel, offering a delicate contrast of fabrics and textures in a collection described in the press release as “a playful, provocative stance” and “an awkward moment”. This collection showcased a contrast of fabrics, including sheer textures and see-through plastic raincoats, which added a sense of innocence to an otherwise sophisticated show.
250921 Simone Rocha SS26 London Fashion Week SS26 Credit: Ben Broomfield Credit Social: @photobenphoto Copyright: Ben Broomfield Photography 07734 852620 photo@benbroomfield.com www.benbroomfield.com
Ben Broomfield @photobenphoto
Burberry Spring Summer 2026
Courtesy of Burberry
Burberry’s contribution was also strong and characterized by a neat and narrow silhouette. Shown at Perks Field, set within the grounds of Kensington Gardens, the theme for this collection, as explained in the show notes, was the connection between fashion and music: two powerful forces that have shaped culture, challenged conventions, and expressed a universal language of style. “Music is about self-expression, originality and belonging,” says Burberry’s chief creative officer, Daniel Lee, when describing the inspiration behind the Summer 2026 show, “from festivals and stadiums to open-air concerts, every summer the UK comes to life with style and sound”. With a focus on outerwear, Burberry introduced new rainwear items—the Summerside, Rayne, and Isleworth trenches—that echoed archival details from a 1927 Burberry coat. The collection had an outdoor feel, with many outfits accessorized with soft, unstructured handbags and slouchy totes. There were some fun chain-mail dresses and hand-crocheted and embroidered items that added an artisanal dimension to the collection overall. The colors were also unusually vibrant, including pink, blue, ochre, and purple. New shoes included the Baez sandals, a new lace-up boot called Tone, and the equestrian-inspired Ledger boot.
Ones To Watch
New Inn Yard, London, 22nd September 2025. A model walks in the Ones To Watch Catwalk show. ©Chris Yates/ Chris Yates Media
Chris Yates/ Chris Yates Media
London continues to present itself as a hub for emerging talent, offering a unique creative energy. With fresh perspectives and sustainable practices, many new designers told their bold stories on the catwalk.
This season’s FJU Talents, a platform sponsored by the College of Fashion and Textiles at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, showcased the work of four designers: Chih-Wen Kuo from Wayne Knitted, whose collection highlights included heavy knits in earth tones; Juan-Juan Xu from juanpak.o, with a focus on bold, sculptural silhouettes; Yi-Zhen Lin from E.JEN, who showcased effortless yet intricate deconstructed shapes; and Ying Chu from Chuoru Studio, whose work focused on deconstructed shapes. All of them brought fresh and unique perspectives that drew from Taiwan’s cultural heritage.
JUANJUAN XU
Courtesy of FJU
This season’s edition of Ones to Watch also showed promise, featuring the work of six new designers: Nathan Slate, Lanna Parrell, La Toile Milan (with a collection based on love), Nichoir and Yonzu, who told me that her inspiration came from dismantling the boundaries and explained: “that’s why I used a lot of womenswear details on the menswear”.
Speaking backstage to Nikolai, Nichior’s founder and designer, he told me that he was influenced by dark romance and hope. A confessed hopeless romantic, he explained that he was pushing for romance because “I think we need it in the world we live in”—a sentiment shared by more than one designer I’ve been speaking to during this London Fashion Week season.
New Inn Yard, London, 22nd September 2025. A model walks in the Ones To Watch Catwalk show. ©Chris Yates/ Chris Yates Media
Chris Yates/ Chris Yates Media
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