After a brief interval post-New York Fashion Week, London Fashion Week began with a royal cameo: on Thursday afternoon, King Charles III attended the A/W 2026 runway show of British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker (in a show of fashion force, British Fashion Council CEO Laura Weir was joined by designers Stella McCartney, McQueen’s Seán McGirr, Roksanda Ilinčić and Martine Rose as the monarch’s seatmates).
On Friday morning, Weir – who is in her second season as the BFC’s CEO – struck a hopeful tone as she laid out her ‘designer-first’ approach in a speech which marked the event’s official opening, promising ‘to be clear, focused, and purposeful... [to] put designers first and define the ecosystem required to support British fashion not just for a season, but for the future.’ Proferring a message of community, she concluded: ‘This is a city of ideas. This is an industry of resilience. This is a community of extraordinary talent.’
Indeed, London continues to be defined by its breadth of designers – from those straight out of fashion school (or, indeed, in the process of graduating – Central Saint Martins and London College of Fashion both held MA shows on Thursday) to those well-embedded in British style, like Simone Rocha and Erdem (both London-based brands showed on Sunday afternoon). Then there was Burberry, which remained the week’s final act, with Daniel Lee showing his latest collection for the heritage house in a no-doubt blockbuster show last night (23 February 2026), before fashion month moves onwards to Milan today.
Here, reported from London, Wallpaper* brings you the standout shows and highlights from London Fashion Week.
Jack Moss is Wallpaper’s Fashion & Beauty Features Director, reporting for the magazine’s digital and print editions – from international runway shows to profiling the style world’s leading figures.
Hannah Tindle is the former Beauty & Grooming Editor of Wallpaper*. Now a regular contributor, she writes about fashion, beauty, arts and culture.
‘Sleeker, chicer, sexier’: Burberry heads out out
‘Slicker, chicer, sexier.’ So described Daniel Lee of his latest Burberry collection, which closed London Fashion Week yesterday evening at Old Billingsgate Market, backdropped by a recreation of Tower Bridge shrouded in scaffolding (the Yorkshire-born designer said that the ‘in construction’ set was meant to reflect a city in constant evolution – you can read about it here). Set to a booming soundtrack by FKA Twigs and Lee’s longtime collaborator Benji B, the A/W 2026 collection was conceived as a sequel to his 2025 collections, which saw the Burberry protagonist escape to a windswept country estate (A/W 2025) and a music festival (S/S 2026). This collection was their return to the city, ‘to going out in a particularly London way… Everyone’s going somewhere. Everyone’s going out.’ (Fittingly, the black rubber runway was covered in a series of resin puddles – a familiar sight for any Brit.)
Outerwear remained central here, though last winter’s hardy silhouettes were replaced with something loucher, more glamorous: the house’s signature trench came with ruffles around the collar, or was imagined in leather, while shearling overcoats descended into swinging tassels. An inky palette reflected what Lee called ‘after-dark mood’ – one also reflected in the swathes of leather and iridescent fabrics used throughout – while runway cameos from Romeo Beckham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley added a glimmer of star power. At the end of the show, the set twinkled with sparkling lights, before attendees stepped away into the drizzly London night, some – just like that Burberry protagonist – on the way out themselves (the Burberry after party was at Mayfair hotel The Twenty Two). Jack Moss
Oscar Ouyang holds ‘the last party’
A graduate of Central Saint Martins BA Fashion, buzzy young designer Oscar Ouyang founded his namesake label with Yibo Chen, whilst the pair studied for their master’s degree in knitwear at the Royal College of Arts. Last season, during London Fashion Week S/S 2026, the brand made its runway debut at the New Gen space inside 180 The Strand, which Wallpaper* previewed ahead of its unveiling. Ouyang, who hails from Beijing, noted that it was a challenge for him and Chen to ‘translate the Oscar wardrobe into the warmer months’. A ‘from scratch’ approach leads his method, the tacticilty of raw threads and yarns ultimately informing the concept for a final garment, rather than the other way around. It was a challenge that Ouyang rose to; the collection received acclaim for both its technical ambition and emotional pull.
Yesterday (Monday 23 February 2026), as one of London Fashion Week’s final shows, the same venue played host to Ouyang and Chen’s sophomore venture, with the A/W 2026 season allowing the brand to flaunt its DNA against the backdrop of an immersive set. ‘A show is more than just the clothes, it’s a whole experience you’re creating,’ Ouyang told Wallpaper* in the January 2026 Next Generation issue. The theatrical set saw coloured spotlighting illuminating haybales, dilapidated crystal chandeliers, wrought iron bird cages, velour chaise longs and rocking horses, their painted coats flaking and chipping. The idea, said Ouyang, was to imagine a faded manor house and ‘a group of young men throwing one final party’ there, before their parents auctioned off the building the morning after. (Empty wine and spirit bottles strewn hither and thither denoted that this imagined event had been a raucous one.)
Overall, the collection proffered a distant twinge of ‘Indie Sleaze’; clothes that one might have seen in chilly queues outside Soho’s Madame Jojos during London’s 2000s club scene. Military jackets and waistcoats in French wool tweed were pierced with knitted brooches in the shape of gift wrapping rosettes; ripped jeans in black and grey Japanese washes pooled around sneakers and loafers by New Balance. Fair Isle sweaters, plus faux fur Trapper and chunky Chullo hats, met with the exaggerated fronds of extra-long scarves, dangerously trailing a mere inch from the floor. Eye masks, created in collaboration with milliner Noel Stewart in metallic hand-crochet, included protruding deer antlers, as though freed from a wall mount by their wearer.
The repurposing of materials is an inherent part of the Oscar Ouyang brand. Metal hardware was sourced on eBay, the buttons on those aforementioned military jackets plucked from old British Transport Police uniforms. Whilst fabrics – cashmere, virgin wool, llama, and more – were reclaimed from LVMH deadstock. Despite this, and the nods to fashion codes of the past which can so often swerve into pastiche territory, A/W 2026 was a fresh proposition, firmly cementing Ouyang and Chen as ones to watch. Hannah Tindle
Irish folklore and Pony Kids: Simone Rocha straddles romance and realism
Simone Rocha gathered guests at North London’s Alexandra Palace Theatre, a Victorian music hall once known for its spectacle-heavy performances – entertainers would fly over the audience or disappear in a puff of smoke – which has now been left in a state of arrested disrepair. In her review of the show, Hannah Tindle suggested it was the perfect analogy for Simone Rocha’s ‘penchant for melding romance and realism’, a juxtaposition which felt in full display here, shifting in inspiration points between Jack B. Yeats’ lush 1936 oil painting ‘In Tír na nÓg’ (the land of eternal youth in Irish folklore) and Perry Ogden’s 1999 ‘Pony Kids’, a seminal photo series which documented Dublin’s Traveller and Settled children selling and exchanging their ponies around the city’s Smithfield market.
In the collection, garments shifted between Rocha’s distinctive brand of romance – looping bows and collages of ruby-red rosettes; sheer tulle decorated with lace and pearls – and a tougher undercurrent, here figured in heavy shearling and wool overcoats (some slung over the arm), ballooning bomber jackets and pelts of curly faux fur. The collection also debuted an Adidas Originals collaboration, complete with a decorative riff on the brand’s signature trefoil motif, as well as flourishes of pearls and bows. ‘It feels very natural to me, from being a teenager and wearing Adidas under vintage tutus. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time; a feminine perspective on sportswear,’ Rocha said backstage. ‘I love the idea of giving it license to cut through some of the heavier pieces, or the more fragile pieces, and the opportunity of something new.’ Jack Moss
READ: Monster ballgowns, Irish folklore and an Adidas collab: inside Simone Rocha’s latest runway show
Erdem marks 20 years with a series of ‘imaginary conversations’
After a number of seasons showing at the British Museum, Erdem Moralıoğlu chose another venerable London institution for his A/W 2026 show: Tate Britain, where the designer took over the neoclassical Duveen Galleries for a celebration of 20 years in business – an impressive, and increasingly rare, milestone for an independent British label (befitting the celebratory mood, he had gathered the week’s most impressive guest list, which included Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Glenn Close). Over this time, Moralıoğlu has become known for reference-rich collections which draw on notable women from across time, several overlooked in their era or quietly radical in their lifestyle or dress. For A/W 2026, he imagined this canon of women – among them Deborah Mitford, Maria Callas, Madame Yevonde and Radclyffe Hall – in ‘imaginary conversation’ with each other, ‘a continuous exchange between past and present, memory and imagination, with women whose lives and legacies resonate across time and beyond borders.’ Clothing similarly traversed era and place – a pannier-waisted gown sat next to one covered in shiny iridescent streamers, or even a pair of jeans – and featured apparitions of past collections. In true Moralıoğlu style, it was romantic in detail and cinematic in scope: ‘Everything’s changed and yet nothing has,’ he told Wallpaper* last year when he marked the beginning of his 20th anniversary celebrations. ‘It [has been] interesting to look back and realise I’m still the same person as I was.’ Jack Moss
Regency silhouettes meet mini golf at Chopova Lowena
It has been refreshing in recent years to see younger designers resist the traditional churn of twice-yearly runway shows, opting to present collections in different ways – or, indeed, not at all, allowing ideas to percolate between seasons. Chopova Lowena is one such brand working to its own schedule: after a riotous S/S 2026 show held at a gym hall in west London (in typically irreverent style, the designers mashed up their ‘weird girl’ archetype with the all-American cheerleader), this season, designers Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena opted for a static presentation at Islington’s Crafts Council in place of a return to the runway. Titled ‘Too Ripe and Ready by Half’, the A/W 2026 collection was staged amid a surreal mini golf course, seeing mannequins with fronds of Regency-inspired curls – dressed by those responsible for V&A archiving – populate the exhibition-like tableau.
And, while a Chopova Lowena runway show is usually defined by its eclectic cast of models stomping by at speed, here, it was gratifying to see pieces still and up close. This season, the designers had been looking towards the early 19th-century, seeing Regency silhouettes – puffed sleeves, ruffles, collars and the like – meet the pair’s usual playful flourishes, from signature carabiner kilts (which still remain a favourite among the London style set) and kitschy cartoon prints, to clashing plaid and animal motifs. Intricacy came in colourful beadwork, lace, charms and brooches – as well as some brilliant riffs on corsetry – which added a new feeling of richness to the already abundant Chopova Lowena universe. It is this sense of abundance that has established the brand as a cult favourite over the past ten years: a fact evidenced at Saturday afternoon’s presentation by the crowd control needed to hold back attendees who clamoured to get a glimpse at their next-season wardrobe. Jack Moss
Selasi holds a fashion week P.E. class
Multihyphenate designer, photographer and director Ronan Mckenzie teamed up with Lauren Beharie of the English National Ballet for her label Selasi’s A/W 2026 show. It began with Beharie sauntering into the Bloomsbury sports hall where the collection was held, en pointe. Midway through the runway presentation, members of London-based outdoors collective Athene Club, clad in white upcycled Pangaia trackuits, ran to and frow across length of the venue to the sound of a whistle, before gathering in the middle of the floor to stretch. Titled ‘Endurance’, Mackenzie had taken memories of the P.E. classes in which she thrived during her years at Walthamstow School for Girls, using cardiovascular exercise ‘the bleep test’ as a metaphor for the exertion of maintaining a creative practice in London today. ‘I remember doing the bleep test in year eight or nine, my asthma was challenging back then,’ Mackenzie wrote in a letter to guests. ‘There was a girl in my class who I knew I could beat, I was confident. I ran back and forth, back and forth, watching other girls in my class fall away, the heat in my body rising, my lungs getting heavier, it becoming harder and harder to breathe. The last couple of years of being a creative primarily based in London have reminded me of external conditions not aligning with the amount of effort or intention being put in.’ Though Selasi was founded in 2020, yesterday’s show (21 February 2025) was its first on the official London Fashion Week schedule, somewhat proving Mckenzie’s point (Mckenzie has previously shown her work for Selasi during special events, such as a pop-up at Tenderbooks for A/W 2025.)
Mckenzie handmade every garment in the show herself, using a sewing machine gifted to her by her mother, showcasing the self-taught skills she honed over the past six years. Her alma mater donated archival P.E. kits for Selasi, including netball kits and track jackets in forest green, lime green and yellow emblazoned with the word ‘WALTHAMSTOW’. These items were picked apart and reassembled, layered in asymmetric skirts or dresses, with the original necklines and zip fastenings moved around the body to perform a new function entirely. The designer also opted to reuse Selasi materials from previous collections, including raw-edged brown fleece jersey, pinched and cinched to reveal the back, the midriff or the shoulders. Elsewhere, camel-hued intarsia knits displaying afro combs, became plunging, backless gowns. Collaboration is Mckenzie’s bread and butter, and she turned to a roster of names in her network to produce elements of ‘Endurance’. This included jewellery – silver belts, necklaces, earrings – by British-Vietnamese brand MQT, and even an original scent formulated by her partner Ezra-Lloyd Jackson, a nostalgic floral eluding to the notes of Marc Jacobs ‘Daisy’, a fragrance Mckenzie says ‘underscored my girlhood’.
Hannah Tindle
Fashion East unveils its new class of designers
Nurturing emerging talent since its founding in 2000 by Lulu Kennedy, Fashion East remains one of London Fashion Week’s most anticipated shows. With previous participants including the likes of Craig Green, Simone Rocha, JW Anderson and Roksanda, season after season, an eagle-eyed audience remains on the lookout for the designer who might shape the industry’s future. On Friday afternoon (21 February 2026), said onlookers assembled on wooden benches inside Manor Place, a recently renovated 19th-century swimming bath nestled off Walworth Road in South London.
With support from Nike, the space has now been transformed into a community-led skate park-meets-football pitch by the founders of Palace Skateboards, Lev Tanju and Gareth Skewis, alongside London-based design studio JAM. ‘Lev and I wanted to try and create something new, something that’s really community-based. That’s a word that is often bandied about without any real meaning behind it,’ Skewis told Wallpaper* upon its unveiling in October last year (2025). ‘I want Manor Place to be somewhere safe and friendly where people can skate, play football and discover new things – all just down the road from where Palace was founded.’
Jacek Gleba
A fitting runway location, then, to digest the sophomore collections of Fashion East’s current ingénues Jacek Gleba and Mayhew, alongside a first offering from Traiceline Pratt’s Goyagoma. Gleba opened proceedings with a collection titled Salome. Drawing inspiration from Aubrey Beardsley’s 1893 illustrative interpretation of the Oscar Wilde-penned play, the Central Saint Martins alumnus continued his exploration of the ‘balletic body’ (a theme of his graduate collection), with a nod to a costume created by Russian artist Serge Sudeikin for prima ballerina Tamara Karsavina in 1913. Bodysuits with hook-and-eye fastenings, held onto shoulders by fine spaghetti straps replete with lingerie-like sliders, met cropped jogging bottoms, knee-high sport socks and heeled slippers. Though, as the show notes by Wallpaper* contributing editor Dal Chodha add, Gleba’s clothes are ‘a game of tightness and looseness’: pieces of chiffon in the palest pink breezed behind legs clad in marl grey, while a track jacket – usually worn to keep dancers’ muscles warm during rehearsal breaks – was put through a shredder, constructed with airy ribbons of fabric.
Goyagoma
Next, Traiceline Pratt, founder of label Goyagoma, debuted ‘chapter two’ of his proposition Something to Wear, to a soundtrack featuring the voice of Tracy Chapman. In November 2025, he had presented ‘a wardrobe for the first 12 hours of the day’, so at Fashion East A/W 2026, the London-based designer put a nocturnal slant on established silhouettes. This included a trench coat belted around the thighs in chocolate brown croc-print suede rather than cotton, and bomber jackets with faux-fur collars blossoming into sculptural boleros and scarves, paired with vintage-wash double denim. Pratt’s CV features a stint working on Phoebe Philo’s design team, and the ‘Philo-isms’ certainly seeped through – though always with his own personal slant, informed by ‘the women that surround him’ and his Bahamian heritage.
Mayhew
Closing the show was Louis Mayhew, who based his A/W 2026 collection, Come on Over, around Burn, a dreamy, almost otherworldly track from Blue Eye Soul’s 1980 album You Ain’t No Weight. As he notes: ‘The song asks, “I’ve got a four-leaf clover, won’t you please come over?” From the first time hearing this, it touched me and pushed me to encapsulate the attached feelings within this collection.’ Mayhew’s search for the divine in the mundane, via chance encounters with objects unearthed during mudlarking, foraging and digging through building sites, was realised through a pleasing hodgepodge of materials – faux fur, tweed, denim, wool, cotton, fleece, feathers, felt and leather – collaged into garments. Found objects, such as rope and glass bottle necks, made their way into the fastening of a jacket; stones and spools of cotton formed necklaces; and a dyed microfibre cloth embroidered with pearl buttons hung from a trouser loop as though its wearer had picked up treasure along with the dirt. Hannah Tindle
KNWLS unveils ephemeral concept store and Aidan Zamiri-shot collection
KNWLS ephemeral store at the The Painting Rooms, London
After decamping to Milan Fashion Week last season, Charlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault chose to return to their home city this season to set up shop – albeit temporarily – at the Painting Rooms in London’s Soho. Following a recent trend of local, designer-first retail (see: Jake’s, which won a Wallpaper* design award for ‘Best Retail Therapy’, or the recent Kiko Kostadinov opening in Hackney), the ephemeral store, say the designers, is a ‘blue-sky expression of what a KNWLS store could look like’. Cue vintage furnishings by Altar, a series of works by artist Shaan Bevan, and masked figures by Anousha Payne, as well as a library of books curated by Flora Gau’s Studio Nocturne (which itself recently opened its own Mitchell + Corti-designed store in London’s De Beauvoir, selling ‘Spells, Books, Art Objects’). Showing a ‘calmer, concerted’ side to the brand – which is known for a tough, sculpted vision of womanhood – Knowles and Arsenault hope shoppers linger in the store, where they can purchase pieces from the S/S 2026 collection. ‘We realised that outside of the clothes in our wholesale partner’s stores, digital media and shows, people have never been able to interact with our world. So this felt like a really interesting thing to do,’ the pair told Wallpaper*.
Alongside, a series of images by the Scottish photographer and filmmaker Aidan Zamiri gave a preview of the brand’s A/W 2026 collection, which is titled ‘Ballistic’ (Zamiri is himself having a big week, having premiered his Charli XCX-starring mockumentary The Moment earlier this week at Picturehouse Central). Continuing to hone what the pair call a ‘self-possessed femininity – sensual, elegant, soft, severe’, the collection is designed to replicate the eclecticism of a wardrobe, from leather jackets with dramatic gigot sleeves (the sculptural effect is achieved through bonding lambskin to neoprene) to scuba tracksuits, signature leather corsets and slinky going out attire, cinched with sporty toggle fastenings. ‘There's an innate hanger appeal,’ say the designers of the collection, which is displayed, gallery-style, in the space. Jack Moss
KNWLS London pop-up is open at The Painting Rooms, 1–5 Flitcroft Street, London, WC2H 8DH until 23 February 2026.
Stay tuned for updates from London Fashion Week A/W 2026.