Post after some time-new york fashion week, London Fashion week kicked off with a royal cameo: On Thursday afternoon, king charles iii The British-Nigerian designer attended Tolu Coker's A/W 2026 runway show (in a show of fashion force, British Fashion Council CEO Laura Weir was joined by designer Stella McCartney, McQueen's Sean McGirr, Roksanda Illinic and Martine Rose as the monarch's seatmates).
On Friday morning, Weir – who is in her second season as CEO of the BFC – struck an optimistic tone when she laid out her 'designer-first' approach in a speech that marked the official opening of the programme, promising to be 'clear, focused and purposeful… (to) put designers first and define the ecosystem needed to support British fashion, not just for one season, but for the future.' Giving a message of community he concluded: 'This is a city of ideas. This is an industry of flexibility. This is a community of extraordinary talent.
Indeed, London is being defined by the breadth of its 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 Thursdays) to those well-connected in British style, e.g. simone rocha and Erdem (both London-based brands will be showing on Sunday afternoon). then there is BurberryIn what remains the final event of the week, Daniel Lee showed his latest collection for the heritage house in an undoubtedly blockbuster show on Monday evening before fashion month moves on. match On Tuesday.
Here, reported from London, Wallpaper* brings you the standout shows and highlights of London Fashion Week – as it happens.
Jack Moss is Wallpaper's Fashion and 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 Tindall is the former Beauty & Beauty Editor of Wallpaper*. She is now a regular contributor and writes about fashion, beauty, art and culture.
Fashion East unveils its new range of designers
Nurturing emerging talent since its inception by Lulu Kennedy in 2000, Fashion East remains one of the most anticipated shows of London Fashion Week. like with past participles craig greensimone rocha, JW Anderson And Roksanda, season after season, keeps curious audiences on the lookout for the designer who can shape the future of the industry. On Friday afternoon (21 February 2026), spectators gathered on wooden benches inside Manor Place, the recently renovated 19th-century swimming baths near Walworth Road in south London.
With the support of Nike, the space has now been transformed into a community-led skate park-meets-football pitch by Palace Skateboards founders, Lev Tanju and Gareth Skevis, along with London-based design studio JAM. 'Lev and I wanted to try to create something new, something that was truly community-based. It's a term that's often thrown around without any real meaning,' Skevis At its unveiling in October last year the wallpaper* was described as (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 the Palace was founded.'
(Image credit: Fashion East)
A fitting runway location, then, to digest the second-year collections of Fashion East's current talents Jacek Gleba and Mayu, as well as Tricelin Pratt's Goyagoma debut offering. Gleba begins proceedings with title collection Salome. Taking inspiration from Aubrey Beardsley's eloquent interpretation of the 1893 Oscar Wilde-written play, the Central Saint Martins alumnus continued his exploration of the 'balletic body' (a theme of his graduate collection), pointing to the costumes created by Russian artist Serge Sudeikin for prima ballerina Tamara Karsavina in 1913. Bodysuits with hook-and-eye fastenings, lingerie-like sliders held at the shoulders by fine spaghetti straps, cropped jogging bottoms, knee-high sport socks and heeled slippers. However, as the show's contributing editor Dal Chodha writes, Gleba's clothes are 'a game of tightening and loosening': pieces of pale pink chiffon trailed down the legs, clad in marl grey, while a track jacket – typically worn to keep dancers' muscles warm during rehearsal breaks – was put through a shredder, created with airy ribbons of fabric.
(Image credit: Fashion East)
Next, Traceline Pratt, founder of label Goyagoma, begins 'Chapter Two' of her proposal something to wearFor the soundtrack featuring the voice of Tracy Chapman. In November 2025, she 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 the established silhouette. This included a trench coat belted around the thighs in chocolate brown croc-print suede instead of cotton and sculptural boleros paired with vintage-wash double denim and bomber jackets with faux-fur collars blooming into scarves. Pratt's CV features an experience working on Phoebe Philo's design team, and the 'Philo-isms' are certainly seeping through – though always with her own personal bent, informed by 'the women who surrounded her' and her Bahamian heritage.
(Image credit: Fashion East)
The show was closed by Louis Mayhew, who based his A/W 2026 collection on, come on overnearby burnA dreamy, almost ethereal track from Blue Eye Soul's 1980 album you have no weight. As he notes: 'The song asks, “I've got a four-leaf clover, won't you please come over?” Hearing it for the first time, it touched me and inspired me to encapsulate the emotions associated within this collection.' Mayhew's quest to find the divine in the mundane, through chance encounters with objects turned up while digging soil, exploring and excavating construction sites, is realized through a pleasing collection of materials – faux fur, tweed, denim, wool, cotton, wool, feathers, felt and leather – collected into garments. Found objects, such as rope and glass bottle necks, found their way into the jacket's fastenings; necklaces made of stones and cotton spools; And a dyed microfiber cloth embroidered with pearl buttons hung from the waistband of his trousers as if its wearer had picked up the treasure along with the dirt. hannah tindall
KNWLS unveils short-lived concept store and Edan Zamiri-shot collection
KNWLS short-lived store at The Painting Rooms, London
(Image credit: KNWLS)
after removing the camp Last season for Milan Fashion WeekCharlotte Knowles and Alexandre Arsenault decided to return to their home city this season to set up shop – even if temporarily – painting Rooms in Soho, London. Following the recent trend of local, designer-first retail (see: Jake's, which won Wallpaper* Design Award for 'Best Retail Therapy'or recent Kiko Kostadinov's 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 Shaun Bevan, and masked figures by Anusha Payne, plus a library of books curated by Flora Gou's studio Nocturne (which recently opened its own Mitchell + Corti-designed store in London's De Beauvoir, selling 'spells, books, art objects'). Showcasing the 'cool, solid' side of the brand – which is known for a tough, sculpted vision of femininity – Knowles and Arsenault hope shoppers will stop by the store, where they can purchase pieces from the S/S 2026 collection. 'We realized that apart from clothing in our wholesale partner's stores, digital media and shows, people have never been able to interact with our world. So it felt like a really interesting thing to do,' the pair told Wallpaper*.
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Plus, a series of images from Scottish photographer and filmmaker Aidan Zamiri gave a preview of the brand's A/W 2026 collection, titled 'Ballistic' (Zamiri himself is having a big week, premiering his Charli XCX-starring mockumentary). moment earlier this week at Picturehouse Central). Evoking what the pair call 'self-possessed femininity – sensual, elegant, soft, serious', the collection is designed to replicate the eclecticism of the wardrobe, ranging from leather jackets with dramatic gigot sleeves to scuba tracksuits, signature leather corsets and slinky outing dresses, complete with sporty toggles. Bonding. 'There's an effortless hanger appeal, displayed gallery-style in the space,' say the collection's designers. jack moss
The KNWLS London Pop-up is open until 23 February 2026 at The Painting Rooms, 1-5 Flitcroft Street, London, WC2H 8DH.
Stay tuned for updates on London Fashion Week A/W 2026.