You wanna be on top? Dust off your ballet flats, buy a Chopova Lowena kilt from Dover Street Market (and keep the receipt) and slap on some eyeliner — London Fashion Week is back, darlings, and for the spring/summer 2026 season it’s re-energised and raring to go.
The basics, for those who do not kneel at the nova-checked altar or worship the fashionati (whom you’ll easily spot, rolling about town in their logo-stamped Mercedes-Benz G-wagons from Thursday through to Monday), are as follows: editors, buyers, stylists (and not a few celebrities and influencers) will descend on the city to cast an eye over the wares of more than 150 designers and organisations.
This year, per the British Fashion Council (BFC) which organises the event, expect 50 catwalk shows, 19 presentations, 64 events and 23 digital activations. Worth getting out of bed for. Jewels in its crown range from Monday’s ever-spectacular Burberry show to London stalwarts Erdem, Simone Rocha, Emilia Wickstead, Roksanda, right, and Richard Quinn. Other highlights include cool new stars: Dilara Findikoğlu, Paolo Carzana, Jawara Alleyne, Conner Ives and Aaron Esh (those five are all worth remembering).
And as for the parties? There will be plenty of those, too. Here’s your bumper LFW guide — and insider tips on how to get involved.
Where to go
Anyone feeling brave can join the Central Saint Martins students in attempting to sneak into shows (which, for a lot of them, is one of the first university projects they will be set after enrolling). This can be done in a number of ways, none of which have anywhere near a 100 per cent success rate: blag your way in or storm the door (requires an intimidating outfit, big sunglasses and an even bigger ego) or focus your attention on entering backstage, where you could be assisting in hair and make-up or production (requires no sunglasses and stage blacks). Not your speed? There are a host of great events running, too.
Read more: full London Fashion Week schedule
The must-visit is the 25-year retrospective exhibition for Fashion East, above, the talent incubator behind some of fashion’s most disruptive and successful designers. It takes place in the ICA’s lower gallery and is open to the public on the Saturday and Sunday of LFW. Titled ‘US LOT: 25 Years of Fashion East, Powered by Nike’, it features commissions and sculptures from Simone Rocha, Craig Green and Richard Malone, special artworks from Jawara Alleyne and Claire Barrow, and fashion photography of alumni by the likes of Wolfgang Tillmans, Joyce NG and Jamie Hawkesworth. It’d be a real faux-pas to miss it.
Elsewhere, sign up to hear designers Aaron Esh and Foday Dumbuya of Labrum London in conversation with Show Studio editor Hetty Mahlich on Sunday as part of the BFC’s City Wide Celebration programme, which has launched an “At Home With” series, presented by the LFW principal partner 1664 Blanc.
Other panel discussions to book include the BFC x ELLE Collective talk on the power of British creativity (you will have to join ELLE Collective, which costs £15 for your first three months) on Friday, and a panel and mixer between model James Corbin and casting director MC Barnes entitled “Recalibrating Fashion’s Inclusivity Lens”, also on Friday (RSVP: je.julienmarnier@gmail.com). Barbour is also unveiling its Tartan: The Barbour Way pop-up at 5-7 Carnaby Street, which dives into the brand’s archive. It will feature a live demonstration by a loom artist and a bar created in collaboration with Belmond, inspired by the Royal Scotsman train, and will be open all weekend.
For those eager to see a show, there are a number of evening events, ranging from raves to emerging designer showcases, on the LFW website (londonfashionweek.co.uk/schedule) tabbed RSVP, not Invite Only. Introduce yourself via email and explain in a line why you would like to attend — some will say yes. A final note: at any of these events, approach anyone who looks interesting (remember, most fashion people can’t differentiate between close friends, friendly PRs, stalkers and strangers. Especially as the week wears on). A disarming “Hi! How are you?” (not “Hello, my name is…”) before launching into conversation will work on most people. If they have the ego to call you out, simply retort: “Oh, sorry, you look just like someone I know. Anyway, what is your name?” And you’re off!
What to wear
You will find the street-style photographers outside the BFC’s main 180 Strand base during the five-day affair. They also buzz about from one top show location to another (one of the great things about LFW is its ability to shine a light on some of the most extraordinary buildings and hidden spots across the city; shows are held at the top of the BT Tower, in the St Bartholomew-the-Great church built in 1123, at the Old Bailey and surrounding the Olympic pool at the London Aquatics Centre, to name a few.)
Catching the camera’s attention without showboating is an art form, however, and the first rule is: do not over-dress to impress. It’s naff to pile on neon layers or wear towering hats before posing for the shutterbugs, and will certainly earn you some side-eyes from the fashion editors, who you can expect to see in Studio Nicholson blue jeans, With Nothing Underneath striped shirts and their battered Chanel flap bags. Never underestimate the power of a The Row-inspired (but COS or Arket-purchased) long black, grey or caramel-beige overcoat, either. And the best dressed at LFW will champion British talents: be that a quirky jumper from SS Daley, vibrant tracksuit bottoms from Ahluwalia, a sailor’s top from Mithridate, or an upcycled T-shirt by Conner Ives. Learn their names, and have a fun fact to say about who you are wearing. It’s cool — and word of mouth counts.
