London Fashion Week’s Autumn/Winter 2026 edition arrives in February at a point when the industry is recalibrating scale, production, and retail lifespan. Early indications point to a schedule organised around technical expertise, with established British houses appearing alongside designers recognised for textile innovation and alternative manufacturing models.
London has historically operated as an experimental site within the global calendar. Paris and Milan often formalise trends; London reveals them while they are still evolving. The AW26 preview reflects that function. Attention is likely to centre on garment engineering, fabric development, and practical luxury, with headline staging secondary.

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Burberry remains the structural core of the week. Its runway collections are treated by buyers as indicators of outerwear construction and fabric performance, where buyers are prioritising long-lasting garments and cost efficiency. Surrounding that anchor is a group of labels that define contemporary British womenswear. Erdem and Simone Rocha continue to explore sculpted forms and textured textiles, while Emilia Wickstead and Richard Quinn maintain a focus on exact tailoring and formal dressing adapted for export markets.The return of heritage names to the runway forms another point of industry attention. Observers are following brands recalibrating their design language after periods of transition, a pattern now common across European fashion capitals. London’s schedule provides a controlled setting for these resets, allowing labels to restate house codes without the pressure of arena-scale production.

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The British Fashion Council’s NewGen platform continues to operate as an entry route for early-stage talent. Designers connected to the initiative often foreground the mechanics of making: exposed pattern cutting, visible internal seams, and studio-format presentations that highlight craft and technique. For buyers and editors, these showcases indicate where structural innovation may emerge next.

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Another factor shaping the tone of the week is the increasingly international base of participating designers. Many maintain supply networks extending beyond Britain, using London as a commercial bridge into European and North American wholesale systems. The week functions as a forum for discussions around sourcing, sustainability standards, and distribution logistics.
Current retail conditions indicate a cautious environment heading into AW26. Across the industry, brands are concentrating on garments with extended sales cycles: modular outerwear, adaptable tailoring, and knitwear intended for multiple seasons. Buyers are evaluating longevity alongside aesthetics. London’s designers are assessed not only on visual direction but also on whether production methods are viable in commercial settings.
If these patterns continue, AW26 will reinforce London’s position as a working laboratory within the fashion system. It is a calendar stop where creative experimentation passes through technical scrutiny and commercial feasibility. The value of the week lies in its ability to reveal how garments are constructed, priced, and sustained once they enter the market.

In early 2026, the conversation around men’s knitwear took an unexpected turn when David Jonsson’s name began appearing alongside Paul Mescal’s well-documented cardigan fixation. This is less about celebrity imitation and more about how a single piece is now a testing ground for how masculinity is currently styled in menswear. The cardigan, once shorthand for safe dressing, is being reworked as a deliberate style choice, and actors are playing a visible role in pushing that shift.

The cardigan circulating through red carpets and press events is far removed from its retirement-home stereotype. Over the past two years, Paul Mescal helped reposition the piece through repeated, visible wear during major promotional circuits. His preference leaned toward fitted knits that sat somewhere between tailoring and loungewear, styled with precision that made them feel intentional. Fashion coverage did not treat these appearances as throwaway styling notes. They were catalogued and debated, prompting online discussion about designers and cuts. The repetition helped establish the piece as a recognisable signature.

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Mescal’s decision to later resell portions of his press wardrobe for charity added another layer to the narrative. The clothes were not presented as disposable celebrity costumes but as objects with continued value. That gesture aligned his style with broader conversations around reuse and sustainability, themes that increasingly shape how audiences evaluate fashion credibility. The cardigan, in this context, became more than a short-lived trend piece. It represented a wearable intersection between image, ethics and personal branding.

David Jonsson’s recent embrace of statement knitwear pushes the conversation in a different direction. Where Mescal’s approach was controlled and streamlined, Jonsson’s interpretation leans into texture and visual weight. In a recent London appearance, he treated a textured pink cardigan as the centre of his outfit rather than a background layer. Paired with sharper tailoring elements, the look suggested that knitwear can function as formal punctuation instead of casual filler.

Menswear trends often stall when they become too closely tied to a single figure. Jonsson’s styling expands the cardigan’s vocabulary. It demonstrates that the piece can absorb personality without slipping into parody. The emphasis shifts from copying a celebrity uniform to experimenting with proportion, fabric and colour. In practical terms, it gives stylists and designers permission to treat knitwear as structure rather than comfort dressing.

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The renewed visibility of the cardigan also reflects a wider softening in men’s fashion. Structured suits and logo-driven streetwear no longer dominate every high-profile appearance. There is a growing appetite for clothes that signal tactility and ease while still reading as deliberate choices. Knitwear answers that demand. It introduces surface and warmth into outfits that might otherwise feel rigid. When actors adopt these pieces in high-profile settings, they accelerate acceptance. What might once have read as eccentric becomes accessible through repetition.

The cardigan has existed in men’s wardrobes since the early 20th century. Its resurgence is not about rediscovery but about reframing. Figures like Mescal established a baseline of credibility. Jonsson and others are now stretching the boundaries of how expressive the piece can be. Together, they are turning a historically quiet item into a visible site of experimentation.

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Fashion cycles rarely hinge on a single item, yet certain pieces become shorthand for broader cultural adjustments. The cardigan’s elevation suggests a move toward clothing that balances softness with authority. It invites a version of masculinity that is not built solely on sharp lines and hard fabrics. As more public figures adopt and reinterpret knitwear, the item’s meaning continues to widen. It stops being a seasonal curiosity and starts becoming a stable part of contemporary style.

If current styling patterns hold, the cardigan will not disappear at the end of a trend report. It will remain in circulation as a flexible tool for self-definition. That longevity separates a passing moment from a genuine shift. David Jonsson’s entry into the conversation signals that the piece has moved beyond one man’s signature and into a shared space where variation is expected. The interest now lies in how far that variation can go.

Valentino Garavani, the Italian designer whose name was synonymous with couture discipline and colour mastery, has died at the age of 93. He passed away in Rome on January 19, 2026, according to an official statement released by the Valentino Garavani & Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation.

Born Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani in Voghera in 1932, he began his career at a time when elegance was still governed by structured tailoring and formal codes. Trained in Milan and Paris, Valentino returned to Italy in the late 1950s to establish his fashion house in Rome, a city whose grandeur and history would remain central to his design approach.

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By the 1960s, Valentino had had gained international clients, dressing aristocrats, actresses, and first ladies with a carefulness followed strict couture conventions. His work was featured sharp tailoring. Few designers have so successfully balanced excess with discipline, romance with order.

One of his defining signature is the color that became inseparable from his name a distinctive shade of red that was associated with formal evening wear and couture presentation rather than provocation. It was worn by Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Jackie Kennedy, Sophia Loren, and later worn by contemporary actresses and public figures extending his cultural relevance across decades of cultural memory.

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His personal and professional partnership with Giancarlo Giammetti, who joined the house in 1960, shaped the business and public image of the house. Together, they built Valentino into one of Italy’s leading Italian couture houses navigating the transition from couture salon to global fashion house while maintaining its couture focus.

Valentino stepped away from active design in 2008, presenting his final collection with a final haute couture collection in Paris that reflected his long-standing emphasis to form and finish. While the house would go on under new creative leadership, his influence remained embedded in its shapes and couture techniques.

Tributes followed from across the fashion industry, film, and global culture, acknowledging not only his aesthetic contributions but his insistence on standards in an increasingly fast-paced industry. Within the fashion industry Valentino represented a belief in fashion as a discipline one shaped by patience, skill, and an understanding of beauty as something constructed, not improvised.

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He is survived by his partner Giancarlo Giammetti. Funeral arrangements will take place in Rome, with plans for a public viewing to be announced. With his passing, fashion loses one of its last true couturiers a designer whose work did not chase relevance, yet never lost it.