2024 marks 40 years of LFW, with the celebrations set to showcase and honor the city’s creative community and its unique position as a global hub and a powerhouse of creativity.
We are still reeling from the excitement of New York Fashion Week, but before we can catch our breath, off we go to London for its own version of fashion extravaganza.
While New York is known for more commercial, everyday fashion, and Paris and Milan have luxury written all over them, the British capital is the place to be for emerging talent, especially with its steady stream of creatives from Central Saint Martins. Add to that is the city’s cosmopolitan vibe and timeless charm that’s unlike anywhere else in the world.
No wonder London is always inspired—and inspiring.
The spring-summer 2025 edition of London Fashion Week won’t be any different as it will surely be another platform from which inspiration can be drawn in heaps. Here’s The POST‘s cheat sheet to this highly anticipated event.
Why is this year’s London Fashion Week extra special?
This year marks 40 years of London Fashion Week. The LFW celebrations will showcase and honor the city’s creative community and its unique position as a global and cultural hub. It will also be a celebration of London’s role in nurturing emerging talent and the next generation of creative visionaries as a city that pioneers innovation, sustainability, and creativity.
Since the first London Fashion Week in 1984, the fashion scene has changed and evolved, with trends coming and going and coming back again. Amid these shifts and turns in its four-decade history, the beating heart of what makes London fashion what it is has remained the same.
The creativity that defines the city’s brightest stars has remained constant over the past 40 years, as per Elle. From John Galliano and Alexander McQueen to now globally recognized names such as Simone Rocha and Erdem, London Fashion Week, with the British Fashion Council’s support, continues to discover and showcase “box-fresh young talents intent on doing things their way.”
When will London Fashion Week spring-summer 2025 open?
London Fashion Week SS25 runs from September 13 to 17. But it has already begun—well sort-of—with Day 0 and its first show, eBay Endless Runway, scheduled at 6 pm London time, (1 am in Manila). The marketplace’s Endless Runway was streamed to fashionistas everywhere, where viewers could shop each look as they watched the show.
It was followed by an Elle Collective which celebrated 40 years of London Fashion Week, as well as shows by Hu Bing and Harris Reed.
While there are a few LFW mainstays missing from the schedule — including Supriya Lele and Molly Goddard — there many exciting brands to keep an eye out for.
Day 1 sees staples such as Temperley London, Bora Aksu, Edward Crutchley, Yuhan Wang, Mark, and Fashion East, a non-profit talent incubator discovering, nurturing, and showcasing emerging fashion designers within London). Ukrainian designer Natasha Zinko will close the day.
Over the weekend, there will be shows from Richard Quinn, JW Anderson, Roksanda, Emilia Wickstead, 16Arlington, Simone Rocha, Erdem, KNWLS, and David Koma.
Daniel Lee’s Burberry showcase is the highlight of Monday’s lineup, which also includes presentations from Edeline Lee, Huishan Zhang and Turkish-British designer Dilara Findikoglu. The Spring 2025 Burberry collection will be Lee’s seventh as the creative force behind the London-based label.
“[This season], we will celebrate the creativity, communities and culture that make the UK unique and consistently the envy of the world. We will wrap up our anniversary with a vibrant line-up of events and activations,” says Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council. Looking at the schedule of shows, LFW’s 40th anniversary celebrations is a nod to its storied past while setting its eyes firmly on its future, by way of placing the spotlight on its most promising talents.
Download the full schedule with this link.
What should we expect at London Fashion Week?
Since spring/summer 2025 collections will be unveiled, we should expect vibrant colors, fun accessories, and lots of creative patterns.
The BBC said there are five trends we should be on the lookout for, first of which are bold colors. Adam Laws, founder of Baked Clay London, predicts blue will be “the it color” and that adding a pop of blue to a muted outfit to create an eye-catching and elevated look will be a trend, he told the BBC.
Pastel hues were all over the runway during the February London Fashion Week and it seems like the trend will continue. Designer Patrick McDowell says we should look out for soft pastel shades like lemon and peach which “are symbols of home and brighter times.”
Another trend expected to figure heavily is maximalist patterns—spikes, fur, and fringes and the whole shebang! We should expect a slew of textures, prints, and shapes that reflect the “creativity and playfulness” that LFW is known for, as per the BBC.
We should also anticipate “narrative pieces” that convey personal stories and cultural heritage, as well as a “more is more philosophy” when it comes to accessories. Nostalgia also serves as inspiration for many of the participating designers. Expect boho chic aesthetic courtesy of Moskin and British designer Zandra Rhodes, for instance.
A recent report by Collective Fashion Justice claims that fewer than 4% of London fashion week designers have published emissions reduction targets, compared with 44% of all UK companies. These are dismal figures for sure, dampening the hype in the days leading to LFW.
So it’s interesting to see how sustainability will play out in the LFW, especially after BBC reported that it will figure in many of the collections. One particular designer to watch for is Lucy Tammam, who is using her show to call for stronger legislation to protect the planet.
Where will London Fashion Week be held?
London Fashion Week will have shows in different areas around the metropolis. For the first time, LFW’ celebrations — activities open to the public — are also taking place in Manchester and Newcastle in partnership with 1664 Blanc, as per a report on Vogue.
This season also sees a few changes. The British Fashion Council’s show space, which is offered free of charge to all designers taking part in the Newgen incubation program, is moving back to 180 Studios for the first time since 2020 from the Old Selfridges Hotel.
