The fashion sphere has quietly been scaling back its sustainability commitments, muddying the waters with misinformation and greenwashing. Yet threads of hope remain: a number of designers at LFW continue to champion meaningful, sustainable practices.
Designers are now conscious of excessive fabric production and consumption and are now using practical methods to design and produce sustainably: from bespoke couture tailoring (the most sustainable fashion model) to incorporating upcycled fabrics, organic & natural materials plus developing and sourcing textiles from waste using no water and no chemicals.
There’s an endless supply of designers if you look hard enough. Here are a few of my favourites spotted at the London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2026 shows:
Steve O Smith
A bold couture collection recreated from Steve’s fluid ink-sketched forms feels as if it’s been poured straight from his ink pots. Every piece has the look and feel of the hands that meticulously appliqued layers of chiffon, crepe de chine, and pleated mille-feuille tulle. Bows and lines are hand-stitched using vintage glass beads and sequins. The main character's dress comes in a sorbet yellow deep V puff ball gown etched with striking black lines and layers of delicate frothy tulle reminiscent of a peony bursting out of delicate protective sepals.
Ksenia Schneider
Ksenia Schneider revisits her distinctive style of cubic denim, evolving the shapes further in cotton sweatshirt tracksuit bottoms and recycled patchwork denim, sponsored by her continuing collaboration with Lee Cooper. Sharp denim forms were created in reconstructed fabrics, knits, prints and quilting. The collection played with the construction of fabric details from funtional multi layered utility pockets attached to everything from dresses, jackets and cardholder labels placed on jeans and t-shirts. Playing with denim motifs, Ksenia recreated the iconic linear gold top stitching details of denim on innovative fabrics blended from recycled denim waste.
Jawara Alleyne
His presentation was a study, questioning how fashion can be lived and explored from a sociological point of view. A discussion about the lack of spaces where you can dress up and meet your community in pubs and clubs. Clothing was displayed using walls, plinths and chairs to recreate the gallery set-up. The collection featured deconstructed polo shirts and signature multi-layered t-shirts mixed with neon lace that hung like paintings. A wall hanging of crisscrossing jersey strands trailed across the gallery floor. Jawara’s use of unexpected cuts and layered textures told his story in art form reminiscent of the artist Jenny Saville’s use of ordinary objects in unexpected sculptures, reinterpreting the clothed forms devoid of bodies.
Chopova Lowena
Stepping into the golf-themed world of Chopova Lowena, abuzz with playfully dressed regency core mannequins, you felt compelled to find your main character in the room. The collection was a beautiful mix of craftsmanship and sophisticated fabric parings; tartans mixed with florals, Argyle and camoflague, beaded cotton dresses and faux fur booties, low-rise boned zip skirts and corsets in cotton chintz. The elevated collection is born from upcycled deadstock, redefining the remnants of past seasons. The cat knit jumper and boned tulle skirt accesorised with a cat-shaped bag and bonnet is currently living rent-free in my head.
Phoebe English
Phoebe showed her reflection of the seasons from a horticulturist's eye, it felt like you were visually leafing through the pages of a Royal Horticultural Society’s encyclopaedia of plants and flowers throughout the season; snowdrops in January, dandelions marking the end of winter dormancy and the beginnings of spring, each look denoted a month of the year. Flower motifs were adorned and wrapped like vines across bodies, mixing textures, light and shade. Imprinted fabric leaves blowing in the light breeze, foxgloves and ivy trailing down sleeves, ferns sandwiched between cotton tulle, all against a backdrop of an all-white collection of crushed gossamer silk, cotton and satin acquired from bridal companies.
