The Build-Up to London Fashion Week 2025

London Fashion Week is always a highlight in my calendar, and this season, which ran from Thursday 18th to Monday 22nd September, was no exception. The anticipation leading up to it is always a mix of excitement and busyness: curating looks, booking hotels, and preparing for days filled with fashion inspiration.

My London Fashion Week Diary: Friday to Sunday Highlights

This year, I wasn’t able to commit to the full programme, so my fashion week began on Friday and wrapped up on Sunday. Even in a shorter timeframe, it was an incredibly rewarding experience — full of creative energy, runway moments, and personal style experiments.

Press Fittings and London Fashion Week Outfits

One of the highlights was attending press fittings, where I was able to select pieces directly from designers showcasing at London Fashion Week SS25. I also had fun blending those with a mix of favourites from my wardrobe and a few new additions. I love this part of the season most, as fashion week is the perfect space to experiment and be unapologetically creative, surrounded by others who embrace fashion as play and art.

This year, I stayed at the Waldorf Hilton- a beautiful, centrally located hotel that made navigating the shows effortless. After long days of press events and runway presentations, it was the perfect retreat to recharge and prepare for the next day’s adventures.

Catch the next post for full outfit details for all of my LFW looks with links.

RUNWAY SHOWS

Special thanks to BLACK PR, DYELOG and OXFORD FASHION STUDIO for sharing the press release and imagery.

RAY CHU SS26

RAY CHU’s SS26 collection is a masterful convergence of resilience, artistry, and responsibility, weaving cultural narratives into sharp tailoring and sustainable innovation. At its core lies a reimagining of the house’s signature suiting sculpted through structured shoulders and cinched waists, adorned with Swarovski crystals, intricate lacework, and luminous textile treatments that transform garments into radiant statements.

JENN LEE

The Jenn Lee SS26 runway show took placee at Village Underground, London. This anniversary collection channels the literary elegance of Dream of the Red Chamber, translating its timeless sensuality into a bold new chapter of aesthetic evolution. Moving beyond raw-edged deconstruction, the brand embraces exaggerated tailoring and a gothic refinement, while retaining its signature provocation through the avant-garde use of acupuncture needles as fashion statements crafted by Salient Class. Infused with JENN LEE’s fearless sensibility, the collection harmonises the philosophical grace of East Asian tradition with the rebellious spirit of London’s subversive punk heritage, forging a vision that is at once poetic, defiant, and profoundly contemporary.

APUJAN

APUJAN’s SS26 collection, unveiled at 8 Northumberland Avenue under the theme The Extraordinary Voyage of Captain Peach, transformed the runway into a lyrical narrative that fused fantasy, folklore, and social commentary. Drawing inspiration from the Japanese tale of Momotaro, the show unfolded as a metaphorical journey through modern existence, rendered in 33 exquisitely crafted looks spanning both menswear and womenswear. Hallmarks of the house – ethereal printed chiffons, feather-light knits, intricate bespoke jacquards, sculptural formalwear, and technical sportswear were reimagined with cinematic flair, seamlessly bridging East and West, tradition and futurism. With each jacquard fabric developed in close collaboration with textile mills, APUJAN once again affirmed its mastery of storytelling through innovation, weaving literature and design into a singularly poetic vision.

Oxford Fashion Studio

Oxford Fashion Studio is a runway production company and fashion incubator that champions authentic, independent design talent. Since 2015, it has been the first to represent emerging designers across all four major fashion capitals, launching collections for over 800 designers from more than 70 countries worldwide. This season marks its 10th anniversary of international shows, continuing its mission to discover, nurture, and elevate exceptional talent to global success. Marking its landmark 10th Anniversary, the SS26 season at London Fashion Week unfolded at Devonshire Square, where 17 visionary designers from across the globe showcased collections that embodied creativity in its purest form, fearless, uncompromising, and richly celebratory of fashion’s boundless artistry.

DESIGNERS WHO SHOWCASED THEIR COLLECTIONS

Chelsea Grays

Chelsea Grays fused military-inspired streetwear with art and activism, crafting garments that spoke not only to resilience and defiance but also to the transformative power of fashion as social commentary.

ChenChen Studio

ChenChen Studio unveiled architectural, sculptural silhouettes that transformed clothing into living installations, blurring the line between wearable garment and kinetic artwork.

Elsa Nilaj

From Mumbai with Albanian roots, Elsa Nilaj reimagined contemporary tailoring through artisanal craft, weaving cultural heritage seamlessly into modern silhouettes that celebrated both lineage and innovation.

Hellavagirl

In keeping with her signature avant-garde artistry, Hellavagirl brought to the runway, extravagant unconventional couture theatricality, and closed the show with a commanding presence.

InVintaged

InVintaged celebrated the beauty of womanhood in all its stages.

JIWYA

JIWYA showcased a collection that celebrated sustainability not merely as a practice but as a holistic philosophy of renewal and circularity.

Karpova

Karpova reimagined Ukrainian traditions through a modern, feminine perspective.

Kuteka Printell

Kuteka Printell’s designs captured the poetry of nature in motion, transforming fabric into living
canvases of movement and light.

Linda Sekoll & Royal Black Couture

Linda Sekoll and Royal Black Couture’s collection may have been my favourite. They borrowed concepts from old-master artistry with modern reinterpretations, creating garments that are timeless, dramatic, and meticulously refined.

Megan O’Cain

Megan O’Cain’s Keepsake collection transformed memories and nostalgic objects into
imaginative, dreamlike pieces of wearable art.

Renee’ Larouge

Renee’ Larouge explored the six stages of grief through deeply personal expression, weaving emotion into fabric and presenting garments as vessels of healing and catharsis.

RIYSYS

RIYSYS showcased sculptural statement bags that turned city landscapes and geometry into bold, modern accessories.

Soramame

Vietnamese couture house Soramame showcased a collection of timeless silhouettes that reimagined feminine proportions while celebrating cultural dialogue and affirming fashion’s power as a universal language.

SuKaz

SuKaz showcases their signature bespoke art jackets, each piece a vibrant canvas of individuality and handcrafted expression.

Tomfoolery

Tomfoolery’s merged functionality and whimsy into a distinctive uniform of freedom by way of their signature drop-seat jumpsuits

Viktoria Marchev

Viktoria Marchev advanced her experimental work with silicone rubber into a visionary collection of immersive, underwater-inspired designs, fluid in both form and imagination.

Vino Supraja

Vino Supraja’s showcase was a tribute to handloom artisans and the vibrant life of Bhavani, weaving heritage, colour, and craftsmanship into a celebration of cultural vitality.

UDGN’s Cultural Threads SS26 Showcase Catwalk

The Unity in Design Global Network (UDGN) staged its Cultural Threads SS26 Showcase on 20 September 2025 at Ladbroke Hall, London, as part of London Fashion Week. The high-profile event presented the work of 16 innovative, culturally rooted designers to an audience of press, buyers, and celebrities.

UDGN, operating as both a CIC and Ltd. entity, supports minority and diaspora-rooted designers through an incubator-to-showcase model that combines technical training, business development, wellness care, and strategic PR.

The initiative was founded by Tare Isaac—an award-winning designer and British Fashion Council member—who is committed to building pipelines of growth and recognition for independent talent on the global stage.

Photographed by Maja Smiejkowska

AYAH

ZUBERE

MIDETUSH

BOLA

KAYPEE FOOTWEARS

JERMAINE BLEU

ROBES AND BLINGS BY AKOKOMALI (RBA)

LEKAN AARE

PEM

OOMO AJADI

OBIREEN

THE IDEAL CRAFTSMAN

ANKU

ITELE

TWIN BY TARE ISAAC

MOTURAYO

INF On-Schedule Catwalk Presentation

Unveiling the Spring/Summer 2026 Collection, a striking homage to the exuberant spirit of the 1980s, a decade defined by audacious creativity and boundless stylistic variety. From the sleek precision of athletic silhouettes and sharply tailored suiting to the vibrant ascendancy of hip-hop fashion, the era embodied a cultural renaissance where individuality flourished and no singular aesthetic held dominion.

Sanyukta Shrestha SS26 Catwalk Show: A Harmonious Confluence of Victorian Grandeur and Nepalese Heritage

Sanyukta Shrestha’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection unfolds as an imaginative meditation on identity, resilience, and cultural legacy. At its heart lies a poignant narrative: the imagined journey of a Newar woman from Kathmandu into the very epicenter of the British Empire in 1901.

ART HEARTS FASHION CATWALK

London Debut of Art Hearts Fashion took place on Saturday, 20 September 2025 at St. John’s Church, Hyde Park. The runway show featured a thoughtfully curated lineup of internationally renowned designers, each presenting distinctive creations that came together in a striking celebration of artistry, innovation, and global style.

CHAVELIS PLAYHOUSE

Giannina Azar

Styx Athletics

Charles and Ron

Mister Triple X

Carlos Pineda

CLOSING THOUGHTS

This season proved just as inspiring as ever, offering moments of discovery, creativity, and connection. Although the absence of my usual fashion friend made the experience feel slightly different, the shows themselves, the designers, and the atmosphere reaffirmed why London Fashion Week remains one of my favourite events of the year. With each season, it feels like both the city and I discover a new rhythm of style, and I cannot wait to see where the next chapter of fashion week leads.