The past few seasons of London Fashion Week have made me question the future of London’s fashion scene. Perhaps it’s because it’s my home city, but London has never seemed to hold quite the same prestige as Paris or Milan. After several days of shows, presentations, appointments and parties, it can also be difficult to remember everything you saw – but certain things stay with you.
LONDON FASHION WEEK
This season, I was pleasantly surprised. Across five days of shows, presentations, appointments and parties, each day brought moments and experiences that sparked a sense of excitement again. I found myself thinking less about the sheer number of collections I had seen and more about the designers I wanted to return to, the moments that made me feel something, and the details that became part of my experience of the week.
What stayed with me most from SS27 was not simply a particular collection or show, but a renewed sense of curiosity about London: its designers, its energy and its place within the wider fashion landscape.
Before the schedule began, fashion asked me to slow down. Homme Plissé Issey Miyake opened the week with an off-schedule open studio at Tate Modern, bringing together fashion, art and performance in a series of intimate one-to-one encounters. I was paired with Emanuele, a dancer I had never met before, and asked to maintain eye contact with him throughout the performance.
Emanuele would smile occasionally, breaking the intensity of the eye contact just enough to make the encounter feel human. As the improvisational dance progressed, he moved between garments, bringing the wearable pieces across the stage. It was awkward and strange at times, but also intensely human. There was something about the interaction that felt deeply personal. Fashion is a strange world in that way: we spend so much of the season looking at collections, clothes, imagery and other people that it is rare to be made to feel something so directly.
There are a few designers I’ve had my eye on in London for some time, and Geordie Campbell is one I will always make time for. I first came across his work in 2023, when I pulled some of his looks for a shoot, and have followed the brand ever since. It has been exciting to watch the work develop over the past few years, and to see Geordie make his debut on the main London Fashion Week schedule.
This collection felt particularly sexy. Geordie has always explored queerness and the space between traditional menswear and something more fluid, but SS27 pushed that further. Titled ‘15 Steps’, the collection took inspiration from the history and visual language of cruising, with references to queer image-making appearing throughout the 24 looks. Low boat-cut T-shirts opened the show, followed by oversized military-inspired coats, extreme short shorts and exposed linings.
Another strong designer on my radar is Maximilian Raynor. I began following his work while he was studying at Central Saint Martins, and he quickly made an impression on the London fashion scene with designs that felt very obviously his own. I remember his debut LFW show early last year, and since then he has continued to develop a language of deconstructed silhouettes, unexpected combinations of fabrics and textures, and styling that never feels predictable.
SS27 was unapologetically Maximilian Raynor. A garden courtyard at Goodenough House was transformed into a village green, complete with a brass band, Belvoir Farm drinks and a 1968 Bentley at the centre of it all. The clothes themselves were breathtaking: deconstructed, colourful, messy yet beautiful. Wellington boots were styled with short shorts and beneath a tasselled skirt, while contrasting textures, materials and patterns came together in a way that felt completely his own.
Nothing quite said homecoming like the Alexander McQueen party. After 25 years showing in Paris, the house returned to London for SS27, celebrating its return at The Standard in King’s Cross. The venue itself was polished and, in some ways, felt quite far removed from the rawness and punk spirit I associate with McQueen, but there was something about bringing the house back to London, filling a room with fashion people, drinks and music that still felt right.
With sets from A.G. Cook, Vegyn and Kelly Lee Owens, the night had an energy that felt very London. What I particularly loved was that people were actually there to have fun. It didn’t feel overly influencer-heavy or as though everyone was there to get the right photograph. There were people from across London’s fashion scene, drinking, dancing and actually enjoying themselves. After a week where image can sometimes feel like everything, it was refreshing to be somewhere that felt more interested in the party itself.
One of the things I love about London Fashion Week is that the schedule doesn’t have to end when the last show does. For a city so often associated with emerging talent, some of the most interesting discoveries can happen once you’ve finished your official appointments and start following things you hadn’t planned to see.
That was the case with Tuuli Turunen, another Central Saint Martins graduate. By the end of five intense days, I found myself at her SS27 presentation with some new friends I’d made during the week. It was an intimate, genuinely enjoyable way to close out the season.
Titled ‘Ain’t Nice’, the collection explored ideas around uniforms, authority and anti-war movements. The presentation featured a live performance by Abigail Morris of The Last Dinner Party, who also closed the show in the final look. After five intense days, there was something refreshing about ending the week with something so intimate, calm and personal. It felt like a genuine discovery, and exactly the kind of thing I love about London Fashion Week.
Some of my favourite details from fashion week weren’t necessarily on a runway. DeMellier‘s Brooklyn bag became one of them. I chose mine in a deep Bordeaux with silver hardware and ended up carrying it throughout the week, which is probably the best indication that I actually loved it.
I usually gravitate towards black, but the deep burgundy felt like the right choice for LFW, adding a little colour without feeling too far from my wardrobe. The silver hardware was another reason I was drawn to it. I have always preferred silver, and the combination felt much more like me. More importantly, it was big enough to carry all the physical baggage that comes with fashion week: gifts from brands, portable chargers, my Mac for writing and everything else I found myself carrying from one appointment to the next. It held everything without taking away from the look, which made it one of those pieces that became part of the week itself.
Looking back on SS27, I think that sense of curiosity is what I will take away from the week. Not necessarily one collection or one defining moment, but the feeling of being reminded why I enjoy London Fashion Week in the first place. There is still so much happening here, from designers I’ve followed for years to people I discovered almost by accident, and moments that exist somewhere between the schedule and everything around it. Perhaps London doesn’t need to compete with Paris or Milan to have its own place in fashion. It just needs to keep giving us reasons to look.
Words by DSCENE London Contributing Editor Lewis Stratton.
