The fall/winter 2026 season has drawn to a close in London, and the Vogue team is busy digesting four days’ worth of hair and beauty inspiration. Below are five trends Vogue spied on the runways at London Fashion Week that you should definitely try.
Misty eyes
Eyeshadow is so back! Tolu Coker opened London Fashion Week with a swipe, sending models down the runway with smoky-grey powdered lids. Makeup artist Bea Sweet worked with the designer to create a look that mirrored the colors often found in city landscapes. “Tolu wanted something very ’90s, but I was keen to move away from a heavy lipliner,” the makeup artist told us backstage. “This season, we focused on cold tones—as soon as I saw the swatch of gray fabric, I knew that it was the color we needed to work with,” she adds. For Sweet, the misty grey hue was quintessentially London.
Over at Conner Ives, the MAC Pro Team created more misty eyes as part of a striking beauty look inspired by cinema’s femme fatales. “There was this really beautiful soft-wash, garage door-style eyeshadow, undercut with different shades of green, gray, and pink, which drew it all together,” said Dominic Skinner, director of makeup artistry at MAC UK and Ireland.
At Harris Reed’s bridal-inflected show, the Charlotte Tilbury team created a subtle yet effervescent misty eye. “We wanted something more ethereal and radiant, so focused on glowing skin, dimensional shimmer and natural, just-kissed lips,” lead makeup artist Sofia Tilbury said backstage. “A modern interpretation of soft glam that still felt powerful within Harris’s world.”
To close out London Fashion Week, Burberry showcased an unstructured black smoky eye, continuing the theme of grungy London makeup. Makeup artist Lauren Parsons paired the eye with a totally nude lip, allowing the black eyeshadow to take centre stage.
Cranberry blush
One romantic blush shade swept the fall/winter 2026 runways: cranberry. Makeup artist Thomas de Kluyver told Vogue his team actually used lipstick to create the ruddy, flushed effect. “We wanted to take the Simone Rocha girl in a slightly more moody and punky direction. The skin is a little bit rawer than it normally is—we’ve also got this red blush where we’ve actually taken the Stromboli lipstick from Byredo and dragged it down to the cheeks.”
At Erdem, a light dusting of cranberry blush was also a feature. Makeup artist Fara Homidi said she was “inspired by the pink satins and red ribbons in the collection” when creating the “wearable” look. “I juxtaposed the ornate, beautiful textures with a very wearable look using the Essential Face Compact to give them a natural matte finish and brought out the shape of their eyes with the Essential Eye Compact in Trio No.20, which has luxurious mink brown tones and soft blacks.”
Blush was also a focal point for Annie Doble, who staged her Annie’s show at Spencer House. “We worked with the models’ natural skin and used just one pump of foundation, removing concealer from the process altogether,” makeup artist Becky Moore told Vogue backstage. Two Nars blushers (Hunger and Wild Bunch) were blended to create that deep berry flush.
Twisted coiffures
Chic twists in various forms dominated this season. Celebrity hairstylist Sam McKnight created two elegant looks for the Richard Quinn show, one a classic chignon, the other lifted with more volume. “There is an aerodynamic feel to each look,” McKnight said backstage. “I wanted to bring a modernity to sculptural, ergonomic shapes. In essence, it was Back to the Future, glossy and form-fitting with statuesque twists.”
Hairstylist Claire Grech created the French twists at Conner Ives, which she described as “put together, with a snatched side-parting and lots of product and shine”. The Bumble&Bumble Thickening High Drama Styling Hair Foam was key to achieving the look, for maximum hold and volume.
At Labrum, small sections of hair were twisted to form a modern version of traditional West and central African threaded braids. “I looked at how Foday [Dumbuya, Labrum founder and creative director] always references classic African braiding techniques,” hairstylist Nick Irwin said. “Instead of threading the hair, we twisted more hair around it to create isolated sections, to inject some more drama into the look.”
Bold brows
Thomas de Kluyver created edgy pierced eyebrows for Simone Rocha. “We’ve got little fake piercings that we’re putting in a line over the top of the eyebrows on some models. Then, we also have another fabulous [skinny] eyebrow (almost like a ’30s brow), but it goes from the center, and then there’s a sharp 90-degree turn downwards,” he explains. Backstage at Richard Quinn, meanwhile, models’ brows were being bleached in real time before they walked the runway.
The most wearable take was found at Emilia Wickstead, where brows were brushed up to enhance the very minimal makeup look, masterminded by makeup artist Amy Conway.
Gigantic accessories
At Annie’s, models’ hair was left down and accessorised with jumbo flower clips. According to McKnight, the brief was all about embracing hair’s natural texture and movement “with joy, freedom, and femininity,” he said. “I’m already being asked how people can replicate the look at home.” The hair at Chet Lo, meanwhile, featured feathers upon feathers. “The look is a reflection of Southeast Asian identity,” hairstylist Anna Cofone said backstage. “The feathery details are inspired by iconic headdresses from the Peking Opera, where ostrich feathers are used as an extension of the performance.”
Over at Bora Aksu, beaded hats and veils adorned models’ heads. “Bora’s moodboard really set the tone,” hairstylist Larry King explains. “There was a lot of lace, veiling, and bridal references—black veils and white dresses in particular—which felt romantic but slightly eerie.”
Have a beauty or wellness trend you re curious about? We want to know! Send Vogue s senior beauty wellness editor an email at beauty@vogue.com.