From Erdem’s anniversary show to a slew of energetic debuts and a surprise appearance from His Majesty the King, this London Fashion Week (LFW) was particularly lively for a February edition. Regular attendees noticed the effect of a denser Fall/Winter schedule compared to previous seasons, and there were multiple dinners and cocktail events taking place each night.
According to LFW organizer the British Fashion Council (BFC), there was a 21% uptick in brand activations this season — including not just shows and presentations, but also appointments and other smaller events. The increase was driven by both the removal of participation fees and the encouragement of new formats. “I’m not about pressuring designers to show on the catwalk if it doesn’t work for their business,” said BFC CEO Laura Weir in her opening speech at the LFW breakfast on Friday. “If it’s going to put you in lots of debt and be really challenging, as the BFC it’s not our job to drive that. Our job is to create flexible formats that meet you where you are, allow you to express your creativity, and showcase your exceptional work and vision.”
For buyers, these more intimate set-ups create the opportunity to meet designers in-person and build relationships. “It’s important for me to take the time to cultivate that relationship and understand their unique point of view — so far in my career, that’s how I have picked up new brands,” says Brigitte Chartrand, chief buying and merchandising officer at Net-a-Porter, whose Vanguard initiative allows emerging designers to be stocked at Net-a-Porter.
“Intimate showroom appointments, well-structured presentations, and clear line sheets are far more effective than large-scale runway formats at an early stage,” agrees Simon Longland, director of fashion buying at Harrods. “What matters most is the ability to understand the product: fabrication, pricing, margins, and delivery timelines. Designers who can articulate a focused offer — rather than an overly broad vision — are the ones who stand out.”
Highlights this season included King Charles III’s surprise appearance at Tolu Coker’s show in the BFC’s NewGen space at 180 Strand on Thursday, Erdem’s 20th-anniversary show at Tate Britain, and Burberry’s runway show ahead of its 170th anniversary celebrations in March. Plus, there were luncheons from Tolu Coker x Topshop and Steve O Smith, cocktail parties from Knwls, David Koma and Rotate, and dinner events from Roksanda, Labrum London, Di Petsa, Chet Lo, Patrick McDowell, Style Not Com and even tech company Nothing.
As ever, London’s emerging talent shined bright, though the challenge remains finding a balance between the bigger names who bring attention to the schedule and the newcomers who add differentiation. “Across the week, what has resonated most is a sense of purpose: collections that feel considered, not reactive,” says Longland, referencing Erdem and Burberry in particular. “In terms of newness, there is a strong pipeline of emerging talent showing real discipline in product and identity. While it is still early to name specifics, we have identified a number of designers we are watching closely and expect to support as they scale.”
Here are the key takeaways.
The Baftas and British culture
The 2026 Bafta Film Awards coincided with London Fashion Week this season, taking place on Sunday evening. To celebrate, GQ hosted its third annual Excellence in Film dinner with Paul Smith on Friday, before teaming up with British Vogue on a Fashion and Film party at the newly revived Simpson’s in the Strand. Meanwhile, the BFC hosted a dinner in partnership with the British Film Institute on Wednesday, bringing together guests from the fashion, film and art worlds. In conjunction with some of week’s larger shows, the Baftas added to its star power, says Laura Ingham, deputy director of Vogue’s global fashion network. “We saw the star power at Burberry’s show, but already got a taste for it — and the benefits of timing of the Baftas — with a wonderfully starry cast at Erdem Moralıoğlu’s anniversary show, one of his best to date,” she says.
The crossover brought an extra dose of glamor to the city’s fashion moment, while giving British labels an avenue to extend the runway to the red carpet — from Roksanda dressing Gillian Anderson to Leomie Anderson wearing David Koma and Glenn Close’s Erdem skirt suit. It also helps to position LFW as a broader cultural moment spanning film, music and food, not just fashion. “We’ve worked hard to reset the direction of the BFC and to reposition LFW not just as a table of shows, but as a platform for growth, global dialog, and creative and commercial authority,” said Weir.
An influx of fresh talent
London has always been known as a launchpad for young fashion talent. But this season, there was a notable influx of newer labels showing on and off the schedule from around the globe, even beyond the BFC’s cohort of NewGen designers.
On Thursday, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) staged an off-schedule show for the second time, to platform four emerging fashion talents from the East: Angus Tsui, Bettie Haute Couture, Harrison Wong and SelfFab. On Friday, London talent incubator Fashion East’s latest recruit, Central Saint Martins (CSM) graduate and Phoebe Philo alum Traiceline Pratt, made waves with his label Goyagoma, presenting a refined collection of tailoring and faux fur.
The next day, LVMH Prize 2026 semi-finalist Thevxlley, from Spanish artist Daniel del Valle, made its runway debut. The designer drew an impressive crowd to Ladbroke Hall to view his wearable art collection, The Narcissist, which was three years in the making. Despite its positive reception, the collection isn’t intended to be sold, del Valle told Dazed. On Saturday night, Timothée Chalamet-approved, UK-made label Adon showed off-schedule, while across town, another CSM graduate, Erica Myat, hosted a subversive, dimly lit off-schedule debut that closed with a woman in a white gown smashing her way out of a fake glass box.
Challenge the Fabric 2025 winner and fellow CSM grad Petra Fagerström made her on-schedule debut on Monday, with a presentation at Studio Smithfield (Paul Smith’s Foundation — which Fagerstrom is part of via its Fashion Residency program — is based here). The collection included ecru puffer jackets with patterned linings, alongside silky bootcut pants. Also on Monday, Rick Owens protégé Leo Prothmann staged a well-attended presentation at the Mandrake Hotel, following an intriguing off-schedule debut for SS26. “The last show had such an energy, but I just wanted it to be more official. I was always this underground kid doing his thing, but it’s a business at the end of the day, and I want to survive on this,” Prothmann said at his presentation.
A pragmatic approach to collaborations
Collaborations have long been part of London’s emerging designer playbook, but this season they felt noticeably more commercial rather than one-off runway moments. It’s a sign of the times, as financial pressures weigh on the capital’s fashion scene and designers have to get practical.
Labrum teased an upcoming running collection in collaboration with Adidas, featuring the brand’s signature cowrie shell prints, which will be revealed fully on March 3. Completedworks displayed its pearl-embellished trainers in partnership with Asics at its micro-play, which starred actor Jemima Kirke and influencer Camille Charrière. Simone Rocha also teamed up with Adidas on a collection of jackets and ruffle and bow-embellished sneakers, sported by those on Rocha’s front row.
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Maximilian Raynor partnered with British trainer brand Gola, which was founded in 1905, as models walked with Gola-printed bags. “Gola approached me asking if I wanted to use some footwear in the show, and I went back with a proposal of a more expansive collaboration where I would really investigate the brand’s heritage and weave that into my show narrative,” said Raynor, who referenced the prolonged ritual of Victorian mourning in his FW26 show.
Elsewhere, Karoline Vitto launched a partnership with LFW’s principal sponsor Pull&Bear as part of the London label’s ongoing Canvas for Creativity project, which aims to amplify emerging designers from the BFC’s NewGen incubation network. Immediately after the show, a capsule was available to buy via Pull&Bear including the shimmering denim set and eyelet blazer from the runway.
At Tolu Coker’s lunch event, hosted shortly after her show, the designer announced an 18-piece capsule collection in partnership with Topshop, which will be available from early March. The collection spans sculptural denim, sharp blazers, statement jumpsuits, and knitwear (the knitted pieces appeared on the runway alongside Coker’s main collection). “The reach and resources of brands like Topshop, coupled with the ideas and rigor of young designers, is how we shift our approach to design in a tangible way,” Coker said. “It takes bravery to interrogate what ‘accessible’ can mean and to take real steps to evolve it. We don’t have all the answers, but this is a step in the right direction, and a foundation we can build upon.”
Even the BFC signaled a pragmatic turn toward commercial partnerships. “You’re going to see us leaning into partnerships and fundraising as a great strategy for industry,” Weir said. “Without it, we can’t afford to do what we need to do to drive this industry and LFW forward.”
Trends to note: Faux fur, embellished knitwear
As in New York, faux fur was all over the runway in London for FW26. More specifically, a plush, velour-like faux fur appeared at Mithridate and Fashion East’s Goyagoma, while shaggier iterations translated to accessories at Natasha Zinko and Oscar Ouyang, stoles at Simone Rocha, and exaggerated sleeves and collars at Agro Studio. Overall, fur accessories were exaggerated, oversized and bold, reflecting a more maximalist mood.
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Silhouettes also pushed toward exaggeration, with amplified hips and shoulders appearing at Tolu Coker and Chopova Lowena, while structured hourglass shapes featuring boning punctuated the runway at Masha Popova, Richard Quinn, Harris Reed and more.
“London Fashion Week to me has such a strong identity and sets its own trends, as each show has its own unique offering and statement to make,” says Net-a-Porter’s Chartrand. “That said, the purple and bottle green colors we saw in New York have also found their way onto the runways in London this week, as well as warm accessories such as the faux fur stoles we saw at Simone Rocha.”
Elsewhere, outerwear leaned into quintessentially British toggles and fastenings. At Labrum, Mithridate and Fashion East’s Mayhew, coats were fastened with oversized Paddington-style closures — a traditional detail reworked in a subtly exaggerated way. It was fitting, as Paddington Bear himself graced the red carpet at the Baftas, coat and all.
Knitwear skewed decorative rather than cosy. At Mario Arena’s debut show for Joseph, white cashmere was punctuated with 3D-printed metal quills that swished as the models walked. Chet Lo crafted dramatic evening gowns and jackets from his signature spiked knit material, and Pauline Dujancourt leaned into craft with intricate hand-crocheted floral embellishments on dresses and skirts.
From the Adidas and Gola collaborations to the equestrian rosettes at Simone Rocha, the “sportsmart” trend finally showed up on the runway this season, as performance dressing received a high-tech and elevated update.
Government support
Along with the changes at the BFC and the sign of support from King Charles III, the government is also deepening its support for the UK fashion industry, which is worth almost £30 billion and employs over 800,000 people, according to the Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS). As part of its Creative Industries Sector Plan, the British government is investing £380 million to support initiatives including the BFC’s NewGen scheme, which has received a £1 million grant from the DCMS.
“If we fail to value and invest in this industry, we risk shutting the door on the next generation of world-leading designers before they’ve even had the chance to find their feet,” says Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy. Part of this initiative involved decentralizing access to creative industries like fashion. Mayors from across England will also be investing £150 million in local creative economies, including fashion.
Nandy emphasizes that, while the government has not been “able to move on” the reintroduction of VAT-free shopping, it has “heard loud and clear the strength of feeling across the industry” on the subject. “This is a genuinely difficult global environment — trade pressures, access to finance, the impact on industries that rely on exports and tourism,” she says. “We’re actively looking at what more we can do to support the sector, and that work is ongoing. The industry deserves honesty from us, and they deserve to know that we’re working on it.”
Correction: This article was updated to change the names of the Hong Kong designers involved in London Fashion Week (24/2/26).
