London Fashion Week SS26: A reset for British fashion's future
The SS26 edition of London Fashion Week drew to a close this week, wrapping up not just the season but a turbulent year of reinvention for the British fashion calendar. Under the new leadership of British Fashion Council (BFC) chief executive Laura Weir, the event sought to strengthen its position of being both a platform for fresh talent and a stabiliser for heritage names navigating a challenging luxury market. With an expanded schedule, milestone anniversaries and a renewed focus on accessibility, this season became a trial for whether London can redefine its role in global fashion.
The status of LFW has, in recent years, remained up for debate. Once a haven for experimentation and anarchy in fashion, the English capital has struggled to hold its ground against global counterparts. Macroeconomic challenges – from Brexit to the pandemic – have further weakened its ecosystem, raising questions as to the relevance of London’s slot on the calendar. This season, however, marked a bold reset. LFW SS26, which opened on September 18, promised to usher in the “next British fashion era”, propelled by an 18 percent increase in on-schedule designers.
Designer-first approach marked by 18 percent increase in participants
Under her direction, Weir promised a fresh, “designer-first approach”, acknowledging the city’s long-running dilemma: while London has been a launchpad for global names, its lack of infrastructure has often driven talent to Paris or Milan once they reach critical acclaim. In her opening remarks at the fashion week’s launch event, Weir urged the industry to recognise fashion as more than commerce, framing it as both a cultural force and an economic engine. “We have a task on our hands to rebuild the clarity of purpose of the BFC, tell the story about why fashion matters and make clear that in the act of getting dressed you are quite literally shaping culture,” she said.
Weir’s early reforms are targeted at accessibility and support. She has scrapped participation fees for designers, extended the NewGen programme for another four years (now backing 17 brands), and expanded scholarship and mentoring initiatives. She has also emphasised fashion’s role as a nationwide endeavour, not just a London-centric one, highlighting the 68 billion pound GDP contribution and millions of jobs tied to the industry across the region.
The political significance of LFW was underscored even before the shows began. The event was debated in the UK Parliament, where MPs including Rosie Wrighting and Uma Kumaran highlighted the opportunities and barriers facing the sector. Wrighting argued that fashion must remain a viable career path for young people, particularly from working-class backgrounds, and thus called for fairer pay, stronger education, and better pathways to scaling businesses. “These changes will undoubtedly support working-class creatives in this space,” Wrighting said. “But they will also influence an industry that is fundamentally better off when there are working-class voices within it.”
Evolution among a resilient schedule
It must be noted that evolution was already evident across the schedule for this edition, particularly on the brand-front. Patrick McDowell, for example, used his slot to unveil a redefined brand identity. On the back of launching a new, sleek logo, the collection, dubbed ‘Lancashire Rose’, marked the designer’s first step into ready-to-wear, reflecting what was described as "conscious growth rooted in sustainable innovation”. Personal references to McDowell’s grandmother, whose voice echoed throughout the show, were infused with his sustainability values. To further this mission, McDowell partnered with Certilogo on equipping each piece with a Digital Product Passport, ushering in a new level of engagement between brand and community.
The runway coincided with McDowell's 30th birthday, a personal milestone for the designer, making his namesake label just one of the many celebrating a turning point during LFW, underscoring the city’s resilience. Many commemorated anniversaries, for example, included Roksanda, who marked 20 years in business; Erdem, which also turned 20; and Fashion East, an incubator for young talent that now turned 25. At the same time, newcomers such as Oscar Ouyang, Joshua Ewusie and Maximilian Raynor brought fresh perspectives to the runway, reinforcing London’s role as a discovery platform. These designers joined a growing line of breakout names nurtured by NewGen, from Simone Rocha to Richard Quinn.
This celebration of talent, however, unfolds against a backdrop of waning demand for luxury. Burberry, LFW’s most prominent global player, continues to transform under its ‘Burberry Forward’ strategy and thus remains in the early stages of rebuilding desirability, relying on ‘timeless British luxury’ as a selling point. After previously exiting the LFW schedule, the brand had in recent seasons made a point of returning to the lineup to reignite the connection to its ‘British’ identity. Such efforts continued into its SS26 collection, for which designer Daniel Lee introduced new signatures, such as the Summerside and Rayne trenches, alongside championing archival pieces, like the classic Harrington jacket and the House Check.
British identity faces rejuvenation under younger brands
The reliance on an innate sense of Britishness raises the question of whether this identity still resonates with today’s global luxury consumer. In contrast to other heritage brands that similarly lean on national character, newer labels often take a more irreverent approach, some even poking fun at the notion of tradition. The disparity between established players banking on nostalgia and experimental brands redefining what ‘British’ means was among the most identifiable contrasts at LFW, and came at a time when the country as a whole is facing similar discussions among the wider population.
Prototypes Series09 – a design collective that was notably off-schedule – marked their first London presentation by indirectly addressing the ongoing discourse over immigration across the UK, most prominently exhibited in an ‘Everyone’s Welcome’ flag dress. Other pieces – like hosiery inspired by riot gear, a retake on the classic houndstooth pattern and modernised medieval silhouettes – only further emphasised the collective’s play on cultural archetypes associated with the UK in a bid to promote unity at a time of grave uncertainty.
The brand is among a new generation laying the foundations of what LFW could be. Relatively fresh names like Chopeva Lowena and Conner Ives are among the latest staples of the fashion week, enticing onlookers with distinct identities. Even newer faces like Jawara Alleyne, Johanna Parv and Pauline Dujancourt are also stirring up movement, encouraging a wider creative shift across the fashion week as a whole. The challenge now is to sustain this emerging power.
Fashion East serves as an example of London’s dual identity
This balance between heritage and experimentation was most visible at Fashion East’s 25th anniversary show. Beyond simply serving as a retrospective – with both an exhibition and a runway on the agenda – the event brought together the incubator’s alumni, from Simone Rocha and Mowalola, with its latest cohort, encapsulating London’s dual identity and its ability to honour legacy while platforming a new generation. The showcase illustrated Weir's wider message: fashion is not only commerce, but a means of shaping culture, and the two must coexist to ensure a future for the fashion week.
The presence of significantly established names did serve as a show of confidence in London, however. Swedish fashion giant H&M returned to the schedule with a star-studded event, showcasing the next chapter of its continued brand reinvention. Danish label Nanushka, meanwhile, debuted on the schedule as part of a wider strategic vision by its founders to more directly address the UK market. It is through these names that the city continues to show how important it remains for the global industry.
In summary, LFW SS26 operated as less of a seasonal showcase, and more as a pilot for the future of British fashion. The anniversaries of brands like Roksanda underscored resilience, while the emergence of newer voices pointed to a future of cultural critique and hybridisation. Between Burberry’s bid to reassert British luxury to the redefinition of identities driven by emerging names, the week revealed a spectrum of what ‘British fashion’ could be in the current day. Looking ahead, under Weir’s reformation, London may continue to transform its fragility into strength, with the potential to rewrite the rules for LFW’s future.
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