It’s time to dust off a frow-worthy outfit and perfect your quizzical eyebrow raise — London Fashion Week is back for autumn/winter 2026. With catwalk comebacks, hotly tipped emerging talent and the return of fashion week fixtures including Burberry, Erdem and Simone Rocha, there’s plenty of reason to get excited about the shows.
Then, of course, there’s the posing and partying. You don’t need press accreditation or an enlarged ego to get in on the action, so here’s the inside track on who and what to look out for this season, as well as where to head and what to wear.
First, the basics. LFW is not actually a week at all but rather a long weekend, which this season runs from Thursday, February 19 to Monday, February 23. Editors, buyers, stylists and a decent handful of celebrities will descend on the city to cast a discerning eye over the painstakingly crafted wares of some 120 designers and brands.
Last year, the spring/summer 2026 edition of LFW — the first following the appointment of Laura Weir as chief executive of the British Fashion Council — had a certain fresh energy and buzz. The question is, can this be sustained for Weir’s sophomore offering?
Things are looking promising. The Central Saint Martins MA graduate show will make for interesting viewing as ever, while hotly anticipated first-timers on the schedule include Ronan Mckenzie, who will present her label Selasi. Then there are the comebacks — Julien Macdonald, whose vertiginous return to LFW will take place on the 69th floor of The Shard, and Joseph, which is back on the schedule after nine years, under newly appointed creative director Mario Arena.
As for newer names that have become hot tickets in recent years, look to Talia Byre, Patrick McDowell, Chopova Lowena, Chet Lo and Completedworks.
But don’t worry if you don’t have tickets. Much of a show’s atmosphere can be soaked up outside it, so by all means float around LFW’s key locations. The schedule is scattered all over the capital, but the focal point is 180 Strand, the BFC’s base for the week and the home of its LFW designer showcase.
Whether or not you manage to sneak in for a peek, there are worse ways to spend a day out than on the show trail. A celebrated aspect of LFW is its ability to spotlight some of the city’s most brilliant buildings and secret spots, with catwalks popping up everywhere from Tate Modern and Somerset House to a west London skate park and the top of the BT Tower.
Then there are the extra-curriculars. If you’d like to indulge in a little window shopping, head to Dover Street Market, which is hosting a jewellery pop-up featuring a selection of BFC designers, or swing by Selfridges, which has a dedicated LFW edit to peruse. South London brand Knwls will transform the Painting Rooms on Tottenham Court Road into a concept store and The Club Preloved is hosting a free pop-up in its studio near Old Street.
If all the excitement works up an appetite, visit some LFW-approved watering holes. Just down the road from 180 Strand, Vogue and Nike will once again transform The Corner Shop — a glam grocer-cum-café frequented by Condé Nast staffers from their office at the nearby Adelphi Building. The Broadwick Soho hotel will be operating at maximum capacity and is expecting an influx of bookings at its subterranean hotspot Dear Jackie.
Would-be party crashers should head for The Standard in King’s Cross, where its 10th-floor cocktail bar Sweeties often hosts after-parties, or make an as late-as-possible booking at China Tang at The Dorchester. Alternatively, loiter around Mandarin Oriental Mayfair on Hanover Square, scene of Patrick McDowell’s after-party last season. As for freshening up the morning after, rumour has it LFW designers including Sinead Gorey, Mark Fast and Bora Aksu love a CACI Synergy Flex facial at Lisa Franklin’s Knightsbridge clinic.
Finally — and perhaps most importantly — there’s the matter of what to wear. Showboating or courting the favour of street-style photographers is to be avoided unless that’s the way you always roll. By all means make an effort, but stick to your usual style if you want to avoid looking naff. A nice trick is to wear a London designer — a Chopova Lowena skirt here, an S.S.Daley knit there — to show you’re in-the-know and support the cause in these most testing of commercial times.
Oh, and leave the heels at home, unless you plan on bundling into one of the fleet of tinted-windowed Mercedes-Benz G-wagons that roll around town shipping editors from show to show. Some old-school fashion folk are staunch advocates of getting the Tube, which is often quicker than waiting in traffic, or hopping on the BFC’s shuttle bus. Whatever your mode of transport, you’ll be fine in flats. See you there.
