London Fashion Week AW26 Champions Trench Coats and Layering for Workwear

London Fashion Week AW26 landed as a season for coats and clever in-between dressing, with attendees leaning into trench coats and transitional layers as the weather lifted over the weekend, Harper’s Bazaar reported. Stylist summed the runways neatly as “sharpened tailoring, layering strategies for transitional months, and the continued rise of utility-inflected pieces updated,” a throughline that translated directly to workwear-ready silhouettes.

Outerwear stole the first act. Vogue flagged coats from Labrum, Mithridate and Fashion East’s Mayhew fastened with oversized Paddington-style closures, a traditional British detail reworked into something sculptural. Burberry staged an installation reconstruction of Tower Bridge that doubled as a photo backdrop for the new outerwear moments, and the show calendar drifted into luncheons and dinners where belted coats and toggled fastenings dominated the room.

Simone Rocha staged her AW26 show in the round inside Alexandra Palace’s grand theatre, transporting the audience to Tír na nÓg with a pared-back brown and black palette and a Victorian fragility softened by ruffles and volume, Marie Claire reported. Stylist noted the footwear moment from that show was impossible to miss: “three adidas stripes cutting cleanly across bow-encrusted trainers … think balletcore, but make it athletic. We’re coining it the new gymnasium trend.” Look 21 captured that sporty-sentimental crossover on the runway.

Erdem took a different cultural tack, marking 20 years with a reflective anniversary show at Tate Britain. Marie Claire and Vogue both pointed to traditional textures sharpened into silhouettes with backbone, and Vogue noted Glenn Close in an Erdem skirt suit in the front row. Erdem Look 13 was one of the images that crystallized the collection’s craft-forward restraint.

Tolu Coker pushed colour into the workwear conversation, presenting red in full force with sculptural tailored dresses and skirt suits while staging a moment that mixed culture and royalty - Little Simz performed live and King Charles III made a surprise appearance at the BFC NewGen space at 180 Strand, Vogue and Glamour reported. Coker also hosted a Tolu Coker x Topshop luncheon that folded commerce into the celebratory programming.

Craft and tech collided in the knits and embellishments. Mario Arena’s debut for Joseph sent white cashmere punctuated with 3D-printed metal quills that swished as models walked, Vogue observed. Chet Lo kept his spiked knit language for body-skimming eveningwear, and Pauline Dujancourt leaned into hand-crocheted floral details.

Colourwise Stylist declared, “Gone are the mossy greens and burnished mustards. In their place: black-and-white checks, charcoal tweeds, graphic plaids that feel more pared back.” Red operated as both headline and punctuation across Emilia Wickstead, Tolu Coker, Johanna Parv, Sinéad Gorey, Toga and Richard Quinn, the latter finishing with a finale in red, imperial purple and turquoise at Sinfonia Smith Square.

Celebrities and performances threaded the week into a cultural moment beyond clothes. Glamour captured the mood: “No rules, no dress codes, no expectations – just come as the fashion version of yourself!” Little Simz, Mel B, Jemima Kirk, Rose McGowan and Dominique Jackson were among the live moments that kept shows feeling like events.

Vogue’s Weir summed the broader ambition: “We've worked hard to reset the direction of the BFC and to reposition LFW not just as a table of shows, but as a platform for growth, global dialog, and creative and commercial authority,” said Weir. Expect the trench, the toggle and layered tailoring to migrate from catwalk to commute as retailers translate these AW26 signals into office-ready coats and versatile layering systems.