Gothic Romance and Surrealism Lead London Fashion Week AW26 Runways

Simone Rocha’s exaggerated corset and a clutch of lace bridal looks set the tone at London Fashion Week’s AW26 season, which has come to an end with gothic romance and surrealism front and center. The abundant presence of corsets and lacing on the runway aptly followed the release of Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, a modernised retelling of the famed gothic novel that has dictated pop culture discourse over the past month.

Social chatter translated to visibility. “High-engagement threads showcase Fall/Winter 2026 collections from Harris Reed, Dreaming Eli, and Bora Aksu, featuring corsetry, lace bridal elements, and romantic motifs gaining buzz.” Those threads turned runway details into shopping signals overnight: braided ribbons, overbust corsetry, and bridal lace sketches trended on feeds and drove conversation around romantic silhouettes.

The most literal cross-over came from Simone Rocha, where a single gown “even went so far as to unintentionally depict a particular scene from the new film – the ribboned braids of Catherine Earnshaw, played by Margot Robbie, appear in an exaggerated corset dress.” Seen in person, the piece read like a film still: boned waist, ribboned hair details stitched into the neckline, and layers of sheer lace that blurred costume and couture.

Gothic detailing was explored in varying techniques across the schedule. Designers named in the week included Dreaming Eli, Sinead Gorey and Bora Aksu, all leaning into dark romanticism with different textures and cuts. Elsewhere, dramatic pointed collars were a staple of Paul Costelloe’s collection, while Argo Studio’s referenced folklore and traditional crafts, albeit with a sharper edge. The ruff returned as a statement element: “The ruff, a prominent featherlike collar worn round the neck in the mid-16th century, received a modern day update, appearing as a distinguishing detail, as seen throughout Keburia’s AW26 line, or in more subtle forms, such as Dreaming Eli’s lacy design.”

Not every look was prim. Haphazard layering appeared as its own trend, toggling between tomboy and courtly: Pauline Dujancourt, Fashion East and Natasha Zinko showed stacked textures, clashing lengths and sartorial collage that pushed AW26 into deliberate ambiguity. That mix of nostalgic references and chaos is why observers called the edition “marked by ambiguity, chaos and nostalgic references.”

If you shop the season, expect corsetry, ruff collars and pointed collars to filter into retail edits and resale markets next. Between Simone Rocha’s accidental cinematic echo and the social buzz around Harris Reed, Dreaming Eli and Bora Aksu, AW26’s gothic romance and surreal touches are about to hit storefront calendars and feeds in a big way. Coverage even included an image of Rachel Douglass alongside trend roundups, underscoring how visual moments carried the conversation from runway to timeline.