At London Fashion Week, Foday Dumbuya inaugurated LABRUM’s latest chapter earlier today, titled Threads of Osmosis, a celebration of the power of fabric as a carrier of culture.
LABRUM’s Foday Dumbuya is inaugurating a new chapter. Under the golden, opulent ceilings of Westminster’s The Great Hall, the designer presented his latest collection, titled Threads of Osmosis, this afternoon at London Fashion Week – the second act of his LABRUM trilogy, following SS26’s Cultural Osmosis. “Sound was the first archive. Textile is the second,” the show notes read, proposing fabric as a living medium of identity and culture, travelling through borders and carrying history across continents.
At the collection’s heart sits Dumbuya’s forte – British tailoring – which this time becomes the foundation for what he describes as “global craft”. Suiting runs confidently across womenswear and menswear alike, paired with exquisite leather outerwear, a shiny, tech-forward trench, and a trouser-and-top set worn by Kojey Radical, alongside military-style jackets and double-breasted coats. An honourable mention also goes to this season’s metal and jewellery work, created in partnership with Florence West, appearing as brooches and statement pins to pocket chains, ring detailing on jackets and piercings on models’ faces.
Perhaps the most outstanding detailing of AW26 from LABRUM comes through patterning, a medium that underlines the overarching admiration for the power of fabric and its role as a cultural commodity. “Our Freetown print, depicting scenes from Sierra Leone, becomes craft through appliqué and hand embroidery on wool outerwear,” he explains, as a model walks the runway sporting a long coat, swishy trousers and jacket trio in the brand’s signature design.
Elsewhere, splashed throughout the formalwear – from double and single-breasted suits to trench coats, shirting and even ties – is the season’s updated passport print, with new stamps and motifs reflecting the ever-changing nature of migration, laser-etched into Japanese indigo denim, “turning travel into texture”.
Once again, it proves Dumbuya is one of London’s titans, loudly applauded by friends and family who never miss his chosen slot at London Fashion Week each season. AW26 felt especially easy to love, though – a top-tier demonstration of the designer’s range, as he continues his collaboration with adidas, presenting a new wave of designs, including a bluish-grey bomber and track set and a hooded cobalt jacket, opening the door to different categories of customer for the brand. You have no excuse, everybody loves LABRUM.
