LONDON FASHION WEEK A/W 2025/2026

TEMPERLEY LONDON, SIMONE ROCHA, ERDEM, BURBERRY and ROKSANDA.

The Fringe in all its Bohemian Glory is the Fashion Fad of the Moment, Festooning this Season’s Cinched Waspy Waists – Befitting a Trend for a Fashion Week Famous for its Avant-Garde Legacy.

Image Credit London Fashion Week

As celebrities dashed off planes at Heathrow to claim their front row seats at the shows, London was primed for a multi-prong digital-physical hybrid schedule that gave homegrown talent – newbies and stalwarts alike, a platform to showcase their creativity to a global audience.

A slimmer season (a sign of the times?) saw number of brands drop out or change format at the last minute. However, the likes of legendary design houses Burberry, Simone Rocha, ERDEM, Roksanda, Temperley London, Sinead O’Dwyer, S.S.Daley, Paul Costello and Emilia Wickstead were present in full force, and presented stellar offerings.

As for trends, fabulous fringing was the embellishment of the season, without a doubt. We saw fraying at Roksanda, Burberry and Temperley London, amongst others.

The body part that got most attention from the designers this season was the waist: cinched waisted ensembles and hourglass silhouettes ruled the roost.

Colours were bold and vibrant, ranging from icy blue to robust burgundy. Tartan and plaid were favourites among the designers (Burberry par excellence), but artistic surface design was seen in a few places (Roksanda for example). Spring’s floral theme also continued blooming.

It wasn’t only colours that were bold – full volume and extensive layering featured in many collections, and skirts were notable floor length and often belted.

Always a cultural force to be reckoned with – and a fashion week legendary for pushing the boundaries throughout the decades of its existence – London Fashion Week showed, yet again, that despite all the odds it’s still got what it takes.

Join us on a little journey celebrating our favourite designers and our key picks from these shows.

TEMPERLEY LONDON

Temperley London celebrated a quarter of a century of the brand that’s famous for its floaty, ultra-feminine rhinestone embroidered and sequin-encrusted frocks.

This season saw a rather eclectic bunch of looks from Temperley London, with a decidedly military influence amongst the usual signature floaty gowns – from brass-buttoned, double-breasted jackets to medals printed and embroidered on suits, dresses, blouses and scarves. (And indeed it turns out the collection was a tribute to Alice Temperley’s son’s great-great-great-great grandfather who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.)

Blazers were blingy and brassy, shirts regal and shiny, jacquard was woven in the boldest of regal red, blue and purple, and fringed dresses reminded one of armour. (Note, fringing is perhaps the key trend at London Fashion Week this season.)

Military berets across the colour spectrum topped off ensembles perfectly. Oversized boots further served to reinforce the theme.

Skinny scarves added to the ‘French’ vibe, and in one’s mind’s eye it’s easy to imagine said model with a baguette under the arm!

ERDEM

Watch ERDEM’s show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmvSyJ2Extw

Artist Kaye Donachie, a contemporary and friend of Erdem Moralioglu’s, created the soft and muted abstract watercolour paintings that ran like a thread through this nostalgic collection. In fact, it was a commission of a decade ago to paint Erdem’s late mother and muse, that set in motion the current collaboration.

The ultimate storyteller – or ‘painter of portraits’ – Moralioglu has always idolised, and designed for, strong women – from Queen Elizabeth II to Maria Callas. This time it was his mother – and Donachie’s depictions of her – who was in the spotlight.

Moralioglu has always had a penchant for vintage styles, and in particular the uber-stylish 1950s with their cinched waists and distinctive (often floral) prints have been firm favourites, and this collection paid tribute to these endearing styles of yesteryear.

Embroidered flowers on leather coats and cocoon-style dresses continued the 1950s floral theme. Nipped-in-the-waist dresses were so perfectly in line with the zeitgeist this season, mimicking the distinctive hourglass figures celebrated and showcased by so many designers.

SIMONE ROCHA

A beloved tale from her childhood days, the story of the tortoise and the hare, gets new prominence in this season’s offering by Simone Rocha.

What started no doubt as traditional preppy looks, got slightly less conventional once they got the Simone Rocha treatment!

The collection as a whole seems to be a nostalgic look at Rocha’s signature portfolio over the years, but also homes in on her school years.

The bicycle lock hardware featured in some looks no doubt represents the schoolground bicycle shed with its connotations of romance and smoking and the like! Little wonder the school parka and polo shirt got their fair share of attention in this collection, as did the obligatory logo-ed school scarf.

Natural shade faux fur was firmly in the spotlight – a nod to the hare in the tale? In fact, cuddly toy hares were carried about like stoles to underscore the point.

A wonderful sense of contrast was achieved by the combination of all the different textures – faux fur and shredded satin, for example, looked super fresh together. Pink satin ribbons cascading over the cutest little pair of ‘rabbit’ fur knickers was simply inspired.

Tweed boucle and wool coats got ripped to shreds. Floral co-ords and cardigans (a nod to a ‘prim and proper’ teacher’s dress?) featured in Rocha’s story too, as did pastel pink frocks and transparent slip dresses.

Rocha allegedly decided a long time ago she’d much rather be the tortoise in the tale – slow and steady, and indeed that’s been the secret of her success over the past 15 years since the birth of her eponymous label. When one can command the likes of A-lister celebrity Alexa Chung to model for you, you certainly have crossed the finishing line in style.

BURBERRY

Watch Burberry’s show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRxFnInXEqs

Creative director Daniel Lee took inspiration from aristo-film Saltburn (2023), saying, “I really enjoyed the characters, and how the people lived in this old incredible mansion house, and dressed in a really eccentric way for dinner, and had crazy parties.”

And so, most befittingly, this most British of all British brands created an A/W offering that is eccentric, bohemian and classy – and classic Burberry.

The quintessential tartans and plaids were there, so were the usual suspects leather, damask, jacquard, velvet and wool.

The knitted dresses with truckloads of fringing swished and swayed as models walked, culminating in coats that were so densely fringed they could be mistaken for one’s sheep dog (or your mop!).

Tops constructed from tapestries gave a nod to the aristocratic country house estate or castle, these tapestries depicting typical hunting scenes and other countryside landscapes.

Jodhpurs, riding boots, head scarves, blanketry, fur and the archetypal kilt featured across many renditions, just in case the point wasn’t obvious enough: this is a range inspired by the British country set, but one that no doubt the entire globe will want to lay their hands on.

Other exceedingly covetable pieces included the leather biker and bomber jackets, the roomy parkas, the silk house coats and the divine pyjamas. Not to mention the plaid leather carry-all hand bags…

In fact, the British winter looks pretty attractive armed with a few of these ultra-covetable pieces. Bring on A/W 2025/6!

ROKSANDA

Watch Roksanda’s show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS0rrymBiPg

The queen of wearable art presented a collection that was the ultimate confirmation of everything we know and love about the brand.

Roksanda’s fabulous sense of colour blocking and ability to effortlessly create phenomenal sculptural and architectural silhouettes were no doubt at the centre of this offering.

The bold shapes were nothing short of an engineering feat! 3-D shapes in rigid fabrics across what seemed like a random colour palette, read like wearable pieces of sculpture.

The oversized pieces of tailoring were easily as dramatic as the monochromatic chartreuse and shocking pink ensembles. And yet, without changing gear Roksanda can slide back into the softest of drapery.

It seems, whatever this magician touches, the end result is always striking, uber-theatrical and deliciously unpredictable.

Roksanda’s women are successful creatives and intellectuals who light up these statement pieces… it goes without saying that Roksanda Ilinicic does not design for wilting wall flowers!

GOODBYE FROM LONDON FASHION WEEK 2025/6!

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