How Homegrown Talent Stole The Show At London Fashion Week AW26
By
5 hours ago
Meet the British brands and designers making waves on the global stage
Never has it been more fashionable to be British. Whether it’s stomping through the city in a Burberry trench or braving the countryside in head-to-toe tweed, these sartorial staples and labels have shaped our nation – and opened the door for a wave of fresh homegrown talent to take the industry by storm.
‘British fashion matters, and in a fast-changing global industry our role is clear: to support, defend and champion it,’ says Laura Weir, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council. Weir has spent the last six months rebuilding and rebranding the inner workings of London Fashion Week, moving from the traditional schedule of shows to what she deems ‘a platform for growth, global dialogue and creative and commercial authority.’
And it seems to be paying off. The Autumn/Winter ‘26 edition of London Fashion Week was arguably its biggest yet, with designer participation up 21 percent year-on-year and the week’s events sparking over 1.25 million posts (and 10 million interactions) across social media.
View this post on Instagram
It was also one of the most monumental for celebrity sightings; as King Charles opened the week’s events with a front row seat at Tolu Coker, a whole host of A listers – Glenn Close! Helen Mirren! Keira Knightley! Olivia Dean! Kate Moss! – braved the capital’s drizzly streets to see British designers shine on the runway.
‘London Fashion Week always has that edge but this season there’s a real buzz around it,’ says Weir. ‘It signals confidence, belief and a shared commitment to a more resilient, ambitious future for British fashion, one that I can’t wait to be part of.’
So, who were the names to know this season? Below, we round up some of our favourite British talent at London Fashion Week AW26.
3 British Designers We Loved At London Fashion Week
Patrick McDowell
Storytelling is central to most designers’ collections – especially at London Fashion Week, where there’s almost an expectation for theatrical flair. It’s also very common for creatives to play amongst constructions and deconstructions of beauty, to take apart the building blocks that set the standard and turn them on their head, resulting in collections that are often layered and deeply introspective.
So when a designer abandons this model in order to celebrate beauty for beauty’s sake, it turns heads. ‘Beauty without darkness can be unnerving to a designer,’ says Patrick McDowell. ‘But I think it’s really important that we have more beauty.’
While nervous in the lead up to his runway reveal, the designer adds that he thinks ‘beauty for beauty’s sake is okay – and needed.’
View this post on Instagram
It’s a lesson McDowell learnt well from this season’s muse, the American photographer George Platt Lynes. ‘He had an incredible body of work,’ he tells C&TH. ‘Beautiful lighting, very soft sculptural lines and super inspiring stories.’ Lynes’ work, which celebrated all forms of beauty, led McDowell to a collection that married together themes of couture and the male form with wearable pieces that would ‘ultimately make the women who wear our clothes feel great,’
And then there’s this season’s showstopper: ‘The finale dress, a wedding dress,’ says McDowell. ‘It’s made from this incredible vintage damask, and the tulle overlay is deadstock from a couture house in Paris. It’s a one off – very, very special.’ The choice of materials feeds into the label’s continued commitment to sustainable sourcing, adds the designer. ‘We’re just always thinking about different ways to make beautiful things in a more conscious way.’
Daniel Fletcher for MITHRIDATE
Daniel Fletcher has been busy laying down London roots this season. The British designer, who marked his third show as creative director of Chinese label MITHRIDATE, built his latest collection around the relationship between the brand’s heritage and its new home in the UK.
Taking over the iconic halls of Tate Britain, the runway was lit in a ghostly purple glow – spotlighting the towering wisteria plant set up in the central hall. The plant itself was a nod to this season’s theme: ‘The first one was brought over [to the UK] from Guangzhou 200 years ago, and is still blooming today,’ Fletcher tells C&TH. ‘It also really resonated for the brand, because Guangzhou is also the birthplace of Mithridate, and London is where it celebrates its next chapter.’
The brand’s studio relocated to Borough last year, giving Fletcher a front row seat to the Thames, the docks and London Bridge. ‘Borough is the new home of Mithridate,’ the designer says. ‘Spending so much time there, I’ve been able to really appreciate the area and its origins.’
View this post on Instagram
Fletcher, who has mastered the art of sartorial storytelling, set his latest collection right beside him in Borough. Following a journey along the River Thames, from the docks on the edges of the city to urban life in the centre, the designer documents the characters one might meet on the way.
‘There’s those more country feeling, fishing-inspired looks,’ notes the designer, referring to the chunky Aran knits and Fair Isle jumpers that pop up within the collection. Fletcher, who was particularly inspired by the city’s trading communities along the docks, interwove these pieces with printed graphics that make reference to the wares and signage that’s passed along the waterfront.
‘But then, as you get into the city, it becomes darker and sexier and moodier,’ the designer adds. It’s here that the brand’s international links are their strongest. Sharply tailored pieces, showcasing the craftsmanship of the Chinese studio, are adapted with quirky Britishisms – a silky tie tied into a black dress shirt, a moire coat thrown over a silver slip dress, lapels decorated with shimmering numerical brooches and sporty zip-up knits layered under blazers – that ground the collection in its newfound London home.
Speaking again on the metaphor of the wisteria plant, Fletcher adds that he hopes Mithridate similarly ‘lays down roots in London that continue to bloom 200 years later.’
Daniel Lee for Burberry
It’s not London Fashion Week without a closing show from Burberry. The heritage label takes up one of the biggest slots on the global fashion calendar – and often draws in an impressive list of local (and not-so-local) stars to sit on its front row. (This season’s VIP benches were packed with the likes of Bridgerton alumni Simone Ashley and Luke Thompson, music royalty Olivia Dean, Pink Pantheress and Seungmin, and LFW regulars Iris Law and Kate Moss – just to name a few.)
The wind whipping off the River Thames meant that showgoers came bundled up in chic Burberry layers – a fitting mirror for the runway itself. With the sun setting on the capital, Chief Creative Officer Daniel Lee could fully unveil the narrative for this season’s collection: London after dark.
Inspired by the energy of the city – and the characters that inhabit it – Lee ushered in a great revival of Burberry’s outerwear lines, sending all but a few models down the runway wearing some kind of coat or jacket.
The classic Burberry trench, a house staple, made appearances throughout the collection – a belt and a cuff here, epaulettes and throat latches there – while rugged biker jackets were dressed in soft, buttery leather, and chunky shearling jackets gave the runway that little pinch of drama the audience craved. And, in true tribute to London, one jacket featured a printed map of the city and the Thames across its entire front.
‘We all walk the same roads,’ says Lee. ‘We’re all lit by the same streetlamps. We all feel the same buzz of the city at night.’
More LFW
For more on London Fashion Week, see our guide here.
