Emma Corrin leads power dressing at Variety's Power of Women London

Emma Corrin made the cleanest argument for power dressing in London: the suit still lands first. At Variety’s inaugural Power of Women London event at The Chancery Rosewood, Corrin led a guest list stacked with Emilia Clarke, Cynthia Erivo, Hannah Waddingham and Suki Waterhouse, and the evening’s tailoring did exactly what this franchise has always wanted it to do, translate status into silhouette.

That is the trick with suiting in 2026. A sharp jacket still reads as authority the second it hits the room, but the most interesting versions now borrow from workwear rather than the old event-only uniform. The difference is easy to spot even when the clothes are dressed up: workwear-coded tailoring feels built for use, with a sturdier hand, a more practical line through the body, and a shape that can handle movement without looking precious. Event tailoring, by contrast, often leans slick, staged and disposable. One looks like it could survive a long night and a long week. The other is built for the photo wall.

Variety made the London debut feel like more than a stop on a franchise tour. The company said the city is “arguably the biggest entertainment hub outside the United States,” and it framed the night as the first Power of Women event in London after earlier editions in Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. Each of the five 2026 honorees received a separate cover of the accompanying issue, and Variety said it would donate to each woman’s chosen charity: Corrin for War Child, Clarke for SameYou, Erivo for The Shameless Fund, Waddingham for Make-A-Wish UK and Waterhouse for Facing the World.

The guest list reinforced the message. The event was hosted by Ania Magliano, with Josh O’Connor, Thea Sharrock, Edward Enninful, Tom Francis and Sam Taylor-Johnson among the presenters, and Waterhouse opened the night with “Back in Love.” Then Dame Joan Collins walked in as a surprise guest and was named Power of Women Icon of the Year, which felt like the night’s most direct reminder that power dressing still lives on longevity, not novelty.

Corrin, the franchise’s first non-binary honoree, said it was crucial that people, “no matter how they identify,” could celebrate each other. That is the real work of a suit now: not to flatten individuality, but to give it structure, enough polish to command a room and enough ease to feel lived in.