The New In Town List 2026

Meet the cultural protagonists set to make the next 12 months their game-changing moment.

With every year comes a plethora of cultural newcomers – musicians who bag a moment on our playlists, TV shows that dominate water-cooler chats for a week and collections that pique our interest more than most. But some arrivals to the zeitgeist feel more consequential. Individuals who aren’t just passing through but establishing a soon-to-be permanent position at the nerve centre of cultural conversation. 

That’s what the creatives on The New In Town List 2026 represent. By the end of this year, actor Shazad Latif, for instance, will have an immovable place in one of the most-talked-about films of the decade, Wuthering Heights. Ulrik Pedersen’s SUNFLOWER will carve its own place in the legacy of Copenhagen design forces to show their collections on an international stage. And then there’s the likes of Radio Free Alice – the band who, travelling at their current trajectory, could be upscaling venue sizes multiple times before December rolls around. 

Below we round up a list of new cultural protagonists – across acting, music, design – making 2026 the year that changed everything.

Éanna Hardwicke

The Saipan star joining Ireland’s coterie of gold-standard acting exports.

What are your ins and outs for success in 2026?

Ins: patience, taking a slower glance at some of the work you do, leaps of faith. Outs: less time online, more time in the real world (that’s a running one every year), terrible time management. Oliver Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks is a great antidote to this.

What were you most proud of in 2025? 

My family, always. 2025 felt like a really positive year for us all. Professionally, we premiered Saipan at a couple of film festivals, and it was heartening to see an independent film about this very specific Irish cultural event strike a chord with audiences around the world. Glenn and Lisa, who directed the film, did an extraordinary job. It was just a pleasure to hear and feel audiences react the way they did. Anyone involved in filmmaking knows how hard it is  a) to get these things off the ground and b) to find an audience. So you have to celebrate those moments.

Who would you love to share a set with?

Chris Walley. He’s an incredible actor. And he’d be great fun. And we grew up together, so I could say whatever I wanted to him.

Josh Finan

The lead of the BBC’s under-the-radar critical delight, Waiting for the Out.

What are your ins and outs for success in 2026?

Ins: probably to keep trying to move around and exercise. I recently discovered what a gym is and have been tentatively enjoying not being completely useless in that area. Outs: I’m answering this in January, and I’m still yet to do anything about the Christmas tree in the front room, so I’ll start with getting rid of that and then get back to you. 

What were you most proud of in 2025? 

This is going to sound like a shameless attempt at plugging the show, but it is also true that last year, I was most proud of making Waiting for the Out. It was a coming together of very lovely and talented people who I felt very lucky to work with and strive towards getting a story told in a way that felt very honest and exciting. 

Who would you love to share a set with?

I don’t think there’s a filmmaker whose work, and maybe moreover whose process, has captured my imagination more evocatively than Mike Leigh. He’s at an almost-mythic level in my eyes, and the journey he seems to go on with his actors and collaborators feels like it would be such a welcome challenge. Love him.

reggie

The Houston soul-searcher mapping out his music with rich introspection.

What’s on the vision board for reggie in 2026?

Just throwing more paint at the wall and really letting people see way more of me, whether it be film, art or more music. Oh, and touring. I’m looking forward to the UK shows!

What are you most proud of from 2025?

Just it turning into 2026.

Who is your dream collaborator?

Sampha.

Shazad Latif 

One third of a legendary literary love triangle in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights.

What are your ins and outs for success in 2026?

Ins: stretching, pickleball, table tennis, breathing. Outs: intrusive thoughts, drinking, crisps. 

What were you most proud of in 2025? 

Working on Wuthering Heights with Margot, Jacob, Alison, Hong and the rest of the cast and Emerald Fennell. And taking my mum back to Pakistan for the first time in 30 years.

Who would you love to share a set with?

Benicio del Toro. Amy Madigan. All the best directors.

Radio Free Alice

The Sydney four-piece on one of the sharpest trajectories in indie-rock.

What are your ins and outs for success in 2026?

Ins: read more. Outs: stop checking our monthly listeners on Spotify.

What were you most proud of in 2025? 

Probably writing the song “Empty Words”. Also, our last London show [at 800-capacity venue Scala] was surreal because a year earlier we’d played our first London gig to basically no one but our manager and Jules’s cousin. Something about UK shows, maybe the long history of indie rock and punk there, always seems high-energy and exciting – somewhat unsafe, which we love. 

Who is your dream collaborator?

[Geese’s] Cameron Winter. Quite a predictable answer, but we’ve been really impressed by both the Geese record Getting Killed and [Cameron’s solo album] Heavy Metal. It’s so exciting to see young talent coming through. We’re really inspired by him and his work ethic. We would love to see it first-hand.

Ulrik Pedersen (SUNFLOWER designer & founder)

The mastermind behind a Copenhagen menswear powerhouse going international.

What does success look like for SUNFLOWER in 2026?

2025 was by far the strongest year for SUNFLOWER. We want to continue following the same path and developing the brand even stronger internationally. We are [currently] planning for June 2026 to do our SS27 runway show outside of Copenhagen.

What were you most proud of in 2025? 

Navigating the brand to a stronger and better position even though the entire world has been burning – such as big retailers [experiencing] bankruptcy, trade wars, war. Our big wish for 2026 is less global world problems.

Who do you dream of seeing wear your creations?

As a small brand based in Copenhagen you always feel happy and proud when you see random people in the street looking great in your design. For 2026, I dream of seeing more SUNFLOWER in the streets when traveling around the world.

Geordie Campbell (*British Boy)

The London designer flipping masculinity with a serving of nostalgic charm. 

What are your ins and outs for success in 2026?

Ins: Collaboration. Working more closely with craftspeople and other creatives, and focusing on creating things I couldn’t even dream about making. Outs: TikTok. I don’t enjoy posting there, and Instagram already demands enough attention as it is.

What were you most proud of in 2025? 

It has to be our DiscoveryLAB video for London Fashion Week in September. Creating a film to accompany our SS26 collection, working with the genius that is Ellis Howard –  that really was a love letter to queer childhood and that raw emotion of feeling you’ve outgrown home. I also just loved working with the many people who contributed to the film. The majority of the work I do, I do on my own, so being able to come together to see how others interpret *British Boy is just so awesome.

Who do you dream of seeing wear your creations?

Tom Holland, for reasons related to our next collection, Autumn/Winter 2026…