Vin + Omi AW26 Spotlights Plant-Based Textiles as Dame Prue Leith Opens

Dame Prue Leith strode out in a pink ruffled shirt, orange tailored suit and floral headpiece to kick off Vin + Omi’s AW26 off‑schedule presentation at London Fashion Week, the Norfolk-based eco-design duo’s JORD: Bring Back Nature. The suit’s fabric was made using holly clippings from Sandringham Estate, described by Kaltblut as “pulped into cellulose textile wizardry,” and the moment felt equal parts costume theatre and climate argument on a runway that refused to be polite.

JORD: Bring Back Nature positioned plant waste as source material and aesthetic engine. Vin + Omi mined holly, nettles, butterbur and local wood clippings alongside recycled aluminium and salvaged RAF metal cans to build garments that read punky, theatrical and deliberately tactile. The pair leaned into technicolour clashes and distressed, punctured surfaces so sustainability didn’t look like bland co‑existence with silence; Kaltblut summed it up bluntly as “plant-based textiles. Recycled everything. Old-school techniques with a future-facing snarl.”

The show also launched a practical charity tie-up with the British Heart Foundation. FABUK reports Vin + Omi reimagined second‑hand clothing sourced from the BHF’s network of 680 shops across the UK, and Kaltblut states that, for the first time in their 24‑year history, the designers sold 10 looks straight off the runway and gifted them back to the charity with proceeds funding heart research. Kaltblut adds those runway pieces “landed on the BHF eBay at 1 pm on 18 February,” turning couture theater into immediate fundraising action tied to a charity with a physical retail footprint.

There was a personal edge to the partnership. Kaltblut links the BHF collaboration to Omi’s health history, reporting that Omi survived two heart attacks and a heart disease diagnosis; that context gave the sale-and-donate move a pulse beyond performative green gestures. Theindustry also framed the holly work as part of an ongoing relationship with the Sandringham Estate and, it reported, with King Charles III, underscoring the unusual provenance of the materials used on stage.

Runway casting amplified the message: stylist Jo Wood joined the catwalk in garments woven from holly, nettles, butterbur, wood clippings and recycled aluminium, and Kaltblut even noted Dylan Jones twinning in a holly-fuelled fit. The lookbook ranged from hand‑dyed asymmetric knits and ripstop pieces to shiny metallics and hand-beaded tailoring referenced in Theindustry’s coverage, producing a landscape that read equal parts woodland rave and punk-inflected folklore.

Vin + Omi’s move felt strategic and theatrical: a Norfolk duo taking estate waste to the catwalk, pairing experimental plant-based textiles with a charity auction model and a high‑profile runway opener in Dame Prue Leith. The collection, the BHF activation and the claim that 10 runway pieces hit BHF eBay on 18 February together mark a rare moment where material innovation, personal storytelling and fundraising collided on a London Fashion Week stage.