Here’s what designers, stylists and journalists are wearing to fashion week

PHOTOGRAPHY Hannah Jeffries

On the pavements of London Fashion Week, allegiance and identity are displayed proudly. Editors, stylists and students alike eagerly ‘method dress’ for the shows they’re attending, signalling devotion to their favourite brands. There’s a long-running joke that everyone in fashion wears black, but this season, the streets quietly dismantled that cliché.

More significantly, fashion week attendees pushed back against the idea that style must be new to be relevant. This weekend, the most eye-catching outfits weren’t necessarily thanks to new purchases; they were re-worn, reworked, borrowed from friends, or pulled from the back of wardrobes and made current again through new contexts. At London Fashion Week this AW26 season, dressing well meant less about panic-buying something new, and more about experimenting with what you already own with confidence and intent.

Do you plan your fashion week outfits, or get inspired on the day? 

I don’t plan them in advance, but in the week ahead, I was definitely thinking about what specific items I wanted to wear. I knew I wanted to wear the boots and then just threw the other bits together around those. Sometimes I’ve borrowed outfits from designers or PRs, which makes life a lot easier.

Did you have any references or inspirations for your outfit? 

For this day, I wanted to lean more into the feminine side of my style. I’ve been in streetwear for so many months over winter, I wanted to have fun again and feel cute!

What’s been your favourite show this weekend?

A personal favourite show of mine was definitely Labrum – stunning designs that appeal to our individual cultural histories, amongst a backdrop of a lovely community of talented, beautiful people in the city. Using fashion as a medium to converge our past, present and future showcases our resilience and creativity within the African diaspora, and connects us to one another. It always fills me with such pride.

Do you plan your fashion week outfits, or get inspired on the day? 

Ethan: I planned my outfit the night beforehand just to be extra ready for the show. I was so excited, there was no way I was gonna let an outfit change make me late.

Mela: I am the opposite of an outfit planner, Fashion Week included. 

Did you have any references or inspirations for your outfit? 

Ethan: We were there to see Yaku, so I was going for that fantasy-monster idea that he’s so good at bringing to life. I wanted to feel like a swamp monster emerging from the reeds and moss.

Mela: For this outfit, this top is by far one of the coolest pieces I own, plus we were invited to the Yaku show, so it only felt right for it to be the central point of my outfit. 

What’s been your favourite show this weekend?

Ethan: We both work on Leo Prothmann’s studio team, so we are bound to be biased. We also only got to see Yalu’s show and Leo’s presentation. Yaku’s show had such an amazing music score, and the dancing made the show so enjoyable to watch. The format he tried out with many sessions of the same runway really worked and let us stay for as long as we wanted to get a really good look at the clothes and the set.

Mela: My favourite event was the Leo Prothmann presentation, but I am extremely biased because I helped with the collection.

Do you plan your fashion week outfits, or get inspired on the day? 

I don’t plan my outfits. I usually spend 30 mins trying different things and seeing what I vibe with on the day. I am always inspired by playful shoes and rockstars.

Did you have any references or inspirations for your outfit? 

For this outfit I wanted to wear something that would make me feel good and make people smile. I knew I’d be walking around the streets of London all day, so what better way to spark some joy than some ridiculous shoes. 

What’s been your favourite show this weekend?

My favourite show was Raw Mango on Monday. I felt so proud seeing an Indian designer I love show in my city. They gave us fresh jasmine flowers to take home at the end!

Do you plan your fashion week outfits, or get inspired on the day? 

I came all the way from Amsterdam for Fashion Week and a bit of a vacation, so I had to pack my suitcase in advance, but I didn’t really plan what to wear each day. I did a small fitting at home, but in the end, I always style everything differently on the day itself. I do try to wear something that fits most of the shows I’m attending, though I wish I had time to change in between.

Did you have any references or inspirations for your outfit? 

I always try to represent my character through what I wear. A lot of my friends would never have thought I’d wear a floral dress, but I made it cool with boots and a leather jacket. I like combining something cute and sweet with something edgy and elegant, and I enjoy adding a bit of DIY to make the outfit more unique or playful. All of this reflects my personality. I mean, who wears a nitrous oxide necklace? It always starts a conversation.

What’s been your favourite show this weekend?

I loved the Dipetsa show. The collection was inspired by Medusa, as a symbol of female power and transformation, and the location was incredible. I admired the show in its entirety and was especially drawn to the clothing snake motifs appearing in prints, textures, and even tattoos on the models’ bodies.

Do you plan your fashion week outfits, or get inspired on the day? 

I am a major type A, so I plan my fashion week looks a few days before. I always create a moodboard of inspiration for every single look, which contains all sorts of images, which I’ve captured myself wandering around London and travelling or straight from Pinterest. Playing dress up to me is the highest level of joy, and the fact that I get to film that process for my job makes the experience so fun. Many see outfit planning as a chore, but to me, it’s a party!

Did you have any references or inspirations for your outfit? 

Honestly, I never have any references or specific inspo for the looks I create. Being a maximalist, I draw creativity from every single thing I see, so my brain is constantly rushed with ideas, colours, patterns & textures that I want to work with. To be honest, I just woke up the day before and decided I wanted to play around with my extensive collection of floral pins and rosettes, so I started with a few pins, played with the colours of those pins, which then led me to this jacket, then to the tights, and so on. Creating my outfits is like a chain reaction; once I start, I can’t stop!

What’s been your favourite show this weekend?

My favourite show this season was Agro Studio, I was left speechless by every single look; the boning, lace, 1800-inspired structures & the grunge meets glam incentive was everything,

My favourite presentation was Chopova Lowena, my favourite brand ever. This was actually their first ever presentation, and they aced it, with handcrafted flower cupcakes, a mini golf course & a custom-created scent for the room. They smashed it!

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