The recently concluded London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 27 season saw an array of new-age disruptors with distinct points of view. From expanding on couture techniques to reimagining feminine codes and queer culture, and striking a delicate balance between theatricality and wearability, this new generation of designers explored sensuality, queer subcultures and craft techniques with a visionary approach. More than anything, this season explored transparency, with designers toying with lace, chiffon, organza, and tulle. From proposing summer leather to scoop-neck tees and short shorts, designers amped up the drama through a high-low mix, pairing volume with tailoring, translucence with opacity and exaggerated shoulders with barely-there bottoms. Here are some of the noteworthy names from the stellar lineup:
Francesca Lake Wake the Town,
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The London-based designer and multidisciplinary artist from Kingston, Jamaica, presented Wake the Town, which was easily one of the most promising outings at LFW. The recipient of the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN Award 2026 referenced Jamaican culture, particularly the traditions of processions, wakes and celebrations, and cleverly assimilated these reference points into a wardrobe imbued with drama. Think crinolines, feathered tricornes, widow’s weeds, lace, pearl corsetry, baroque denim, snake-print leather and sculptural chiffon. The collection masterfully explored the idea of procession, masquerade and the wake, celebrating the nuanced forms of dress in Jamaica, from resistance to self-expression, through the different constructs of Black existence, Black pride and Black audacity that restructure and reshape the way we see ourselves. Models showed up sheathed in concertina folds or covered head-to-toe in lace. A bodice crafted from a sea of pearls was the pièce de résistance. Statement collars and sharp tailoring lent a touch of formality to the collection, which saw plenty of leather and denim.
Paolo Carzana
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For the presentation, staged inside St Cuthbert’s Church, the pieces were organically dyed, draped and wrapped, employing peace silk, hemp jersey, organic cotton and bamboo satin. Experimenting with colours like turmeric, marigold and tannin, the Welsh designer underscored the dyeing process and the effects of sunlight post-dyeing. This was the first time the brand introduced eveningwear. Picture knitwear, jersey and detailed embroidery; silk bras styled with hemp jersey and bias-cut dresses. Like many designers this season, Carzana’s focus was on reinterpreting translucency and a sense of weightlessness. The daffodil, emblematic of Wales, became a leitmotif, appearing in appliqué and on waistbands. What set the showcase apart was inventive styling with headpieces by hatmaker Nasir Mazhar. Veils, wrapped bodies and almost ritualistic silhouettes amped up the theatricality. Clearly, it wasn’t just another ready-to-wear offering but one steeped in symbolism and savoir-faire.
Petra Fagerström
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In her London runway debut, the designer captured the tension between femininity and female agency. An LVMH Prize 2026 finalist and a Central Saint Martins MA graduate, Fagerström’s SS27 collection included references to 1950s knife-pleated skirts, lingerie, nipped-waist jackets and traditional feminine silhouettes. Her singular take on trompe-l’œil construction, unexpected layering and more inventive styling stood out. An ensemble played out a textural contrast between tweed and underwear, and this duality was also visible in a trench that opened into a leather suit and pleated skirt. The designer also critiqued the vapidity of AI-generated imagery and challenged female stereotypes, bringing home the idea that women are at their best when they ‘malfunction’ in the eyes of society.
Liza Keane
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The designer, who graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2022, made a thrilling debut titled Rain On My Parade with a virtuoso presentation akin to performance art. The runway featured six pillars of concrete breezeblocks holding up a large panel made from metal scaffolding poles; a black, tarpaulin-lined trough lay on the floor below it, bordered by soil. As the show began to a haunting score by HEZEN, six bodies in briefs, painted silver, stepped onto the breezeblocks and hoisted the panel onto their shoulders. As models made their way through the structure, they splashed through the water and tracked mud across the concrete floor. They came dressed in buttery leather, statement black cloaks, wispy white dresses and ripped fabrics. Some even carried bows and arrows slung across their bodies, and one carried a baby held to the chest. The opening look was accented by a pair of distressed angel wings. Exploring brutalism, dystopia, BDSM, religious ritual and Berghain is not new to Keane, and this collection stayed true to that radical spirit while remaining coherent.
Geordie Campbell
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Exploring queer sartorial codes, the collection called 15 Steps was inspired by George Michael and the history of queer cruising. There was an interplay of sexuality, masculinity and the 1980s more-is-more spirit through plunging necklines, skimpy briefs, supersized military coats, short shorts, plumage and exposed linings. The presentation recreated a public toilet in Central Park and captured the energy of gay cruising culture. The starting point was Mansfield, Ohio, where, in the 1970s, two police officers used a two-way mirror and concealed camera in a public loo to identify men and make arrests for so-called “indecent acts”. Styled by Alex Kessler, the collection drew from James Bidgood’s Pink Narcissus and Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane to the graphic language of Tom of Finland. George Michael’s 1980s wardrobe was also recontextualised, with ultra-low-cut T-shirts, shoulder-padded military-inspired overcoats and micro shorts. Campbell retained the luxe appeal with pieces crafted in organic cotton, wool woven with silk and 100% cashmere knitwear. The designer also worked with Cruising Archaeology, which lent gravitas to the presentation.
Agro Studio
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Sheer-core has been an overarching trend across the Spring/Summer 27 collections, and Agro Studio’s offering, titled Glass Body, explored the idea of glass through transparency, light refraction and couture techniques. Purple as a hue was central to the collection and explored as an optical phenomenon. It was also hard to miss the undercurrents of club culture, couture-informed technique, sexuality and experimentation. Diaphanous textiles like tulle and lace were distressed and manipulated around the body. An array of antique and discarded buttons was reconfigured across pieces to mimic contorted surfaces. There was a contrast between firmness and freedom, with corsetry cinching the silhouettes to vaporous volumes expanding around hips and hems. The collection straddled see-through surfaces, body-con shapes and more intricate construction, lending it a visually arresting identity. From 1980s sportswear to ballet references, the collection carried drama, athleticism and an erotic undertone. From a hand-beaded, polka-dotted taffeta ballgown to tracksuits trimmed with ribbons, pinstripe tailoring and a ‘NO MORE AGRO’ baby tee, there was something to suit every style sensibility.
Goyagoma
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Bahamas-born Traiceline Pratt reinterpreted Bahamian everyday dressing through strict tailoring, functional pieces and sharp material contrasts. Think luxe outerwear, sheepskin, wearable gowns and long beaded belts, with unexpected details such as an oddly positioned pocket, an unsettling proportion or a trailing belt, rather than overt conceptual gimmicks.
A white cropped puffer vest with exaggerated, padded shoulders styled with black capris and flat strappy sandals stood out. The balance between excess volume and starkly functional pieces looked incredible. Another contrast was between sensuality and modesty, seen in an unbuttoned black poplin shirt layered over a bra top and wide-leg white trousers. Pratt applied the brand’s signature architectural tailoring to utilitarian jackets and jumpsuits too. The evening pieces evoked instant desirability — from a sleeveless olive green column dress in matte crepe to a white floor-length column gown.
Closing day four of London Fashion Week SS27 was Alexander McQueen, which returned to home turf after 25 years of showing in Paris. At this showcase, creative director Seán McGirr revisited the late designer’s greatest hits with a contemporary spin. The models’ hair was gelled into devilish horns and other shapes that subtly nodded to The Horn of Plenty collection. A raven-black dress, nipped in at the waist with feathers and a dress crafted from sheen-inducing silver skulls stood out. However, the collection lacked the house’s historic rebellious streak. McGirr’s collections have also been marked by a paucity of the raw identity traditionally synonymous with McQueen.
Also worth mentioning is Burberry’s SS27 outing by Creative Director Daniel Lee, who collaborated with British textile designer Celia Birtwell to infuse an impressionistic energy into the house. While the collection featured sunset pink dresses, impressionistic botanical prints, happy-face embellished shoes with scrunched socks, and 3D floral embroideries, the obvious references to Dries Van Noten and Miuccia Prada were hard to overlook, with the mid-length slip dresses ornamented with sequins in “sweet-shop” tones being one example.
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