London Fashion Week Has Found Its Confidence Again
There was something different about London Fashion Week this season.
Perhaps it was the return of McQueen to the official schedule. Perhaps it was Christopher Kane presenting his first collection for Mulberry. Or perhaps it was simply the feeling that London was once again behaving like a city that knows exactly what it wants to say.
Whatever the reason, September's London Fashion Week felt confident.
Not necessarily louder. Not desperate to prove itself. Just confident in what makes London different from the other major fashion capitals.
London has never really needed to compete with Paris or Milan by trying to become them. Its strength has always been its individuality. There is something slightly unpredictable about British fashion, a willingness to mix old and new, luxury and subculture, tradition and experimentation.
This season seemed to embrace that.
According to the British Fashion Council, the September 2026 edition featured 47 catwalk shows, 23 presentations, 10 digital activations and 53 evening events. Accredited buyer attendance increased by 19 per cent year on year, while international buyer attendance rose by 41 per cent.
Those numbers matter, but they only tell part of the story.
The more interesting story was what was happening on the schedule itself.
McQueen Comes Home
One of the most significant moments was the return of McQueen to London Fashion Week.
The house had not appeared on the official London schedule since 2001, making its return under creative director Seán McGirr particularly significant.
McQueen is one of those names that feels almost inseparable from London.
The label's history is rooted in the city and in the particular kind of creativity that London has always encouraged. It has never been about simply producing beautiful clothes. There has always been an element of theatre, attitude and provocation.
That makes London the right place for McQueen to return.
McGirr's collection also brought an interesting perspective to the idea of British fashion. Rather than treating heritage as something precious that has to be protected behind glass, the collection approached London as something messy, energetic and constantly changing.
That feels very British.
And perhaps that is exactly why the return mattered.
A fashion house returning to London is one thing. A fashion house returning with a sense that the city still has something to offer it is another.
Mulberry Begins A New Chapter
If McQueen represented a homecoming, Mulberry represented a new beginning.
Christopher Kane presented his first collection for the British house during London Fashion Week, bringing together two names that have played important roles in British fashion.
It was one of those appointments that immediately creates curiosity.
Mulberry has an enormous amount of history behind it, particularly when it comes to British luxury accessories. Christopher Kane brings a very different creative history of his own.
Putting those two stories together was always going to attract attention.
And it did.
The collection became one of the most discussed moments of the season, with The Guardian describing the pairing as a "swaggering joint comeback".
What makes the appointment particularly interesting is that it doesn't feel like Mulberry is trying to recreate its past.
Luxury fashion has become increasingly obsessed with heritage. Every brand has an archive. Every campaign seems to want to revisit a famous piece from decades ago. There is obviously value in that, but heritage only works when it is used as a foundation rather than a destination.
Mulberry now has the opportunity to take everything people already associate with the house and push it somewhere new.
That is what makes this next chapter worth watching.
Burberry Still Feels Like London
Then there is Burberry.
Few fashion brands are as closely connected to British identity as Burberry, and its presence at London Fashion Week continues to carry a certain importance.
Daniel Lee's latest collection brought together the house's British heritage with the attitude of contemporary London. The timing feels particularly appropriate following the V&A's exhibition dedicated to the Burberry trench coat and its place in fashion history.
The trench coat is perhaps the easiest example of how British fashion can turn something practical into something iconic.
It was never designed simply to look good.It was designed for British weather, somehow, that practicality became luxury.
That transformation says quite a lot about British fashion generally.
There is often a tension between functionality and fantasy. London fashion has historically been very good at bringing the two together.
The Established Names Still Matter
One of the strengths of this season was that London Fashion Week wasn't relying solely on one or two headline moments.
Alongside McQueen, Mulberry and Burberry were established names including Erdem, Emilia Wickstead, Harris Reed, Richard Quinn, Roksanda and Simone Rocha. The schedule also featured designers such as Aaron Esh, Ashley Williams, Chopova Lowena, KNWLS and Paolo Carzana.
That variety is important.
That makes London Fashion Week particularly interesting to watch from the outside. You never quite know what the next collection is going to look like.
The New Generation Is Just As Important
Perhaps the biggest mistake when talking about London Fashion Week would be to focus entirely on the famous names.
For every established house attracting international attention, there are designers trying to establish themselves in the first place.
The British Fashion Council's NEWGEN programme continues to play an important role in that process. This season, Francesca Lake, Gui Rosa and Petra Fagerström made their London Fashion Week debuts as NEWGEN recipients, while Fashion East returned to the official schedule.
That matters because the future of British fashion isn't going to come exclusively from the established houses.
It will come from designers who are currently showing to smaller audiences, working with limited budgets and experimenting with ideas that might look very different from the mainstream.
London has always been particularly good at allowing that kind of experimentation to happen.
It is one of the reasons the city continues to produce designers who eventually become internationally recognised.
Fashion Beyond The Runway
Another thing worth noting about this season was how much of London Fashion Week existed outside the traditional catwalk.
There were exhibitions, installations, cultural events, collaborations and retail experiences happening throughout the city.
Nick Knight and SHOWstudio collaborated with H&M on a special event that reimagined the fashion show format. Patrick McDowell worked with Pandora on his show, incorporating jewellery into the garments and styling, while Paul Smith and Selfridges marked 40 years of collaboration.
Marks & Spencer also made its London Fashion Week debut with its first exclusive catwalk collection as part of its centenary year.
That last point is particularly interesting.
Fashion Week can sometimes feel like a world completely removed from everyday life. Yet the presence of a brand as familiar as Marks & Spencer shows how broad the definition of fashion has become.
Luxury, high street, emerging designers, established houses, retailers, photographers, artists and cultural institutions can all exist within the same conversation.
That is very London.
So, Has London Fashion Week Found Its Confidence Again?
I think the more interesting question is why it feels that way.
The answer isn't simply McQueen.
It isn't simply Mulberry.
It isn't even the increase in international buyers.
It is the combination of all of it.
London Fashion Week is at its strongest when the established names and the new names exist alongside one another. When a major British fashion house can return to the city while an emerging designer is showing for the first time. When a heritage brand can sit alongside an experimental label. When a fashion show can become an exhibition, a film, a performance or an event.
That mixture is what gives London its identity.
The British Fashion Council reported more than 1,000 Fashion Britain events taking place across the UK during September, extending the conversation beyond London itself.
That feels important too.
British fashion shouldn't be reduced to five days in London.
There are designers, makers, photographers, manufacturers, craftspeople and creative businesses working throughout the country. London may be the international stage, but the story is considerably bigger than the capital.
The Future Looks Interesting
There is always a temptation to declare that a particular fashion week is a turning point.
I'm not sure London needs that. What it does need is momentum.
This season provided plenty of it.
McQueen returned to the London schedule. Christopher Kane began his Mulberry chapter. Burberry continued to make British heritage feel relevant. Established designers maintained their positions while a new generation began making its case.
And perhaps most importantly, international interest increased.
That doesn't mean every challenge facing the British fashion industry has suddenly disappeared. Fashion remains an expensive, competitive and unpredictable business. But the numbers, the schedule and the level of attention around this season suggest that London remains an important part of the global fashion conversation.
For CarltonSinclair, that is perhaps the most interesting thing about London Fashion Week right now.
It doesn't feel like London is trying to convince anyone that it belongs in fashion.
It already knows it does.
The exciting part is seeing what it chooses to do with that position next.