From homecoming shows to breakout collections, these were Man About Town’s highlights from a very busy five days in the UK capital.
Burberry called time on London Fashion Week last night with a fun-packed, trench-heavy offering. Now, the travelling fashion set are touching down in Milan for the next leg of the Spring/Summer 2027 circuit. But before you get stuck into all of that, take a look back at all the good stuff from London, from Oscar Ouyang’s well-dressed vision of adolescence to Labrum’s closing chapter of its “Osmosis” series.
Scroll on for our London Fashion Week highlights.
McQueen stages a sinister comeback
Having mainly resided on the Paris Fashion Week schedule since 2001, bar presentations by Sarah Burton for Spring/Summer 2022 and 2023, this season marks McQueen's long-awaited return to the London Fashion Week schedule. So how does one celebrate a 25-year hiatus? With a devilish party, of course.
Set in the crypt beneath the stone-walled Lincoln’s Inn Chapel, there was an ominous air as the lights dimmed. But once the devil-horned models walked out in their immaculate, sharp-edged tailoring, it all started to make sense. Big shoulders, extra-wide lapels, streamlined silhouettes came courtesy of Creative Director Seán McGirr’s collaboration with Savile Row tailor Huntsman. Rave connotations came in the form of thick leather collars and zip-off suit trousers primed for dancing the night away and floral prints and skull soften things, just a bit.
Sharp, evil and sexy, what better way is there to mark a comeback to London?
Kyle Ho’s gentlemen are hyperaware
Titled “The Human Condition”, Kyle Ho’s third chapter looks towards the idea of humanity transforming into disease; how the things we find comfort in can end up becoming part of our demise.
But how does that narrative translate onto the clothing? Veils cloak and envelope tailoring looks, alluding to the feelings of confinement you might feel when you operate with too much control. The idea of disease manifests itself beautifully, with frills sprouting out of the arms of uber-cropped blazers or off the collar of woollen trench coats. Irregularities arrive via waistbands on pleated trousers extending higher up, as well as see-through fabric swishing from suit jackets. It's impressive collection that cements Ho as one of London Fashion Week’s most promising menswear designers.
A look inside Fashion East’s SS27 show
Fashion East’s Spring/Summer 2027 show returned to Manor Place for a second season, the creative and community hub opened last year by Palace and Nike. Its latest cohort saw Jacek Gleba and GOYAGOMA by Traiceline Pratt return, joined by Mé Mé, making her debut.
On the menswear front, Gleba’s cut-out asymmetric tops, sheer quarter zips, delivered a holiday-like chill, while Pratt spliced his womenswear with a standout boxy, power-shouldered suit in office grey, loosened up with a tank-top underneath.
Fashion East provides a glimpse into what’s next, having supported designers including Jonathan Anderson, Martine Rose, and Kim Jones since being founded in 2000. And this season, that vision looked promising, indeed.
Saul Nash lifts the veil
Saul Nash showcased his Spring/Summer 2027 collection in Milan back in June. But that didn’t stop him getting involved in the London fashion festivities. The designer launched a city-wide billboard campaign with BUILDHOLLYWOOD, landing at 37 sites across London. And to accompany the activation, he hosted a community hub and pop-up in Shoreditch showcasing pieces from the AW26 “Masquerade” collection ahead of an online launch this week. The space also gave fans a look at what goes into collections, putting mood boards and references on display as well as offering visitors a look into the design process. And it all kicked off with a launch party with DJ sets from Drybabe and Nash himself.
_J.L-A.L_ turns maths into very fine menswear
After three seasons in Paris, _J.L-A.L_’s Founder and Creative Director Jean Luc Ambridge Lavelle decided to mark his ninth season with a homecoming back to the UK capital. “Being in London, we’re able to work with people that are really close to us and lean on our wider creative community to make things happen,” the British designer shared at his studio some days before the show.
Known for his technical, experimental approach to design, Lavelle made maths the foundation of his SS27 collection. “This season was all about topology. We started looking into all of these different shapes and forms and then looking into all of these mathematicians from the 1930s to 1950s and imagining where they would be in a summer situation,” he explained.
Aptly titled Möbius (a half-twisted strip with only one surface and one edge), the collection sees warps and bends as motifs throughout. They’re manifested in subtle details like continuous twisted straps and integrated belt loops on waistbands. Slashed shoulders on modified tailoring are kept together by interwoven bands that run down subverted blazers and coats, too. A Möbius strip runs across the periphery of the collaborative Puma Cell Telion, and silver brooches are also designed by using different factors of pi to command the spline points on a circle. It’s technical, yes. But also very cool.
Linens were implemented more than ever this season. Blended with wool to create the silky draping seen on remixed tailoring, it adds a luxurious touch whilst still keeping the breathability that makes the fabric so perfect for the hotter months. “It was about trying to make it slightly more dry, less heritage – trying to make [linen] feel more modern than I think even our consumers would associate with it,” he says.
“Each season we try to introduce things that we wouldn’t have done before and see how that gets reinterpreted through our lens,” he states. So, as the monochromatic sunset drenches all three floors of the dome-like, concrete show space and Lavelle’s straw-hatted soldiers circle around, slaloming in and out of colour, it’s clear he’s far from running out of ideas.
For A.V. Vattev, the in-between is where the dressing gets really good
You’ve seen A.V. Vattev’s lace-up Viper cardigan clinging to a muscular Paul Mescal during his 2024 Gladiator II press tour and Bad Bunny on his “No Me Quiero Ir de Aquí” Puerto Rico residency in 2025. You’ve seen it worn by Noah Jupe at the Newport Film Festival this year, and by Tom Holland in promotional videos ahead of the Spider-Man: Brand New Day press blitz, too. But until this weekend, you’d never seen the brand officially showing up at London Fashion Week.
On Sunday, the label made its British debut with its Spring/Summer 2027 collection, unveiled via a film format at the Underground Cinema at 180 Studios. “We want to [present] something that makes people want to dance and makes people feel like nobody’s looking at them, just feel a bit more free,” he shared with Man About Town ahead of the showcase, where his vision of a male character moved between cinema, music, desire and danger, dipping in and out of each. If that sounds complex, that’s the point – it’s the in-between where things get exciting. Hit the link in bio to read our full conversation with the designer.
Burberry turns it up
That’s it, folks. Burberry, the Big Smoke’s blockbuster show, just closed out London Fashion Week. As you’d expect from the city’s mainstage act, it pulled in the usual star power, with Skepta, Stephen Graham, and Jonathan Bailey all showing up for a spot on the front row and Central Cee taking to the runway.
As for the clothes, it showed that British fashion can have some fun with it when it wants to. Because yes, on this Island we like our weather-ready, all-rounder neutrals. And so does Burberry, a brand synonymous with honey coloured trench coats. But tonight these trench coats felt a little less … trench-like, and more post-Glasto headliner Block9 mission. First up, we got them in black, paired with shorts, then in deep purple, white and blue plaid, and emblazoned with floral patterns.
Then there were knits emblazoned with smiley faces, military-style parkas featuring the same patterns on hoods, models wore oversized sunglasses with Burberry’s House check lenses, and baker Boy caps and skate-style sneakers were paired with suits. This was a collection packed with some British all-weather practicality, boosted with the quirkiness that makes what we wear our own, primed for having a good time. This was Burberry turning it up.
Evolving tradition with Charlie Constantinou
Having debuted at London Fashion Week in September 2024, Charlie Constantinou has become one of the capital’s most surefire menswear hits. His technical intricacies and masterful pattern cutting took another leap forward this season, as he looked towards the reinvention of traditional Cypriot dressing from the 19th century.
At Labrum, “Osmosis” enters its final chapter
This afternoon, Labrum packed out Westminster Hall for its Spring/Summer 2027 show. It is the third chapter in founder and creative director Foday Dumbuya “Osmosis” series, which explores the cultural enrichment that arises through freedom of movement.
“When you mix West African [and] British culture together, the thing that’s born out of it is that joyfulness, and that’s what the brand is,” Dumbuya shared with Man About Town ahead of the show.
Surrounded by a star-studded guest list, including D Double E on the frow and Kojey Radical on the runway, today that played out through remixes of the brand’s classics. Cut-off shirts, now with short sleeves, supersized leather sack bags, military jackets with jangling raffia epaulettes and its passport motif — which turns real Sierra Leonean passports into graphics — came in terracotta and were applied to trenches, shirts, jackets and trousers. Cropped suits also joined the party in vibrant electric blue. “We try to reimagine things every now and then, [but] not just bring newness all the time,” Dumbuya shared.
The collection also saw the return of an ongoing collaboration with Lucy Barlow, with woven-style peaked caps accented with rear tassels, as well as adidas runners and training kits adorned with floral motifs.
Wondering who it’s for? “People that love stories, people that engage, and people that love how cultures sort of collide and come together,” says Dumbuya.
At Aaron Esh, the kids stayed out and the party went on
As London’s current curator of a sleaze-driven, party-goer’s uniform, Aaron Esh isn’t the type to finish the night early. Instead, he took us to the next one as he hosted his latest Spring/Summer 2027 collection at London’s hub of rock ‘n’ roll and nightlife, Camden.
Usually a man of monochromatic preferences, he decided to drench the dimly-lit Electric Ballroom hall with splashes of the brightest pinks, teals and yellows you’ll see all evening. “Pink’s so punk”, said the designer post-show and, when paired with his stern-faced models and slender-cut silhouettes, that sentiment bleeds through clearly.
The clothes themselves exude that same youthful, punk spirit. One that feels innately hedonistic in its debauchery, but still polished and refined enough to walk into any five-star hotel bar. Tailoring was relaxed and roomy, yet extremely sharp and far from sloppy, and satisfyingly contrasted with skinny-cut bottoms for an effortless top-heavy figure. There’s still space for baggier suit trousers too, swishing in tandem with triple pleats and streamlined by petite Harrington jackets with a shirt and tie. Field jackets from the last runway are remixed with a gleaming satin makeup and conventional collars, along with distressed baseball caps that also make a comeback.
Leathers come through in an array of outerwear shapes and colours, from hot pink trucker coats to light caramel biker jackets, along with very form-fitting trousers. Leather panels were also cleverly placed on the inner thigh of jeans, offset with black on blue and washed-grey pairs and keeping things subtly tonal on cream denim.
Footwear from an upcoming On collaboration also quietly made its debut on the runway and, being the British designer’s trusty trainer of choice in his day-to-day, he makes a pledge for how to also integrate comfy sneakers into a more rough-edged style.
With the head-bopping techno soundtrack that lay over the show, it’s clear that Esh is still in his party era. And when the guest list can be this fun and stylish, why would you want to stop?
The thrills and frills of a time in-between, by Oscar Ouyang
Oscar Ouyang is reflecting on his coming of age. The transition from teenage years to adulthood. The joys, the angst, the ugly and the pretty. It’s a universally felt, deeply documented, still incredibly formative and challenging time – entering the real world with a whole load of new responsibilities, without knowing who or what you’re supposed to be.
The aftermath of years in reflection is translated into his Spring/Summer 2027 collection, aptly titled “Cygnet”, a word used to describe the growing phase of a swan. On the runway, grown-up kids kept markers of their adolescence, like their dad’s hand-me-down blazers, cut up with pieces hanging freely, or mum’s knitted shorts with the bird peeking through. Masculinity was reimagined in military wear, with bomber jackets and M-65 jackets softened with a silk duchess makeover and roped tassels dangling. Running shorts blossom thanks to smart pleating details and velvet ribbon cinches to create a bulbous shape, as well as frills drooping on shirt plackets and bleeding out of jacket sleeves.
Elsewhere, slouchy brown buckle boots in collaboration with Pull&Bear dominated footwear choices, along with a slew of other items including a zip wool cardigan with epaulettes and a leather deck jacket featuring a shearling collar.
The Oscar Ouyang boys are growing up and, as the Beijing-raised designer marks his third show at London Fashion Week, so is he. But even as his most refined and mature showing to date, his inner youthful whimsy stays with him and, even if we’re all becoming adults, that shouldn’t stop us from having a little fun.
AGRO Studio’s daring turn
At AGRO Studio, the lights flashed hard and the techno bumped harder as the East London duo sent their troops down into a concrete dome.
Purple rained down throughout the collection, splashing onto everything from high-neck leather jackets to checkered, sequined tops. Traditional, everyday garments were subverted, with polos skewed asymmetrically and window panes showing off legs on raw indigo denim. Those same transparent inserts were placed on the back of bottoms, revealing some risqué rear cleavage. Fluidity also came in the form of draping on tracksuits as well as in its tender approach to corsetry elements via fringed tops.
