This was not a normal fashion week
Something felt different. London Fashion Week closed on 21 September, its much anticipated shows for the Spring/Summer 2027 season finally complete. The usual parades of international press and department store buyers filed out of venues across the capital, from Soho to Shoreditch. But this was not a normal week. This was something else entirely. Two British titans of luxury, Alexander McQueen and Mulberry, had returned to the official London schedule after long and conspicuous absences which saw them favouring runways in Paris or simply opting out of formal shows entirely. Their choreographed homecoming alone would have marked the entire season as significant, a welcome change of narrative. It would have signalled a renewed confidence in London as a serious commercial centre, not just a hothouse for young creative talent.
Then came the real surprise. Marks & Spencer made its debut. The high street institution, a business more associated with suburban retail parks and sensible knitwear than the studied experimentalism of the catwalk, staged its first ever show at fashion week. It was an unprecedented move. For years, the story of London's week has been one of steady attrition, of big names drifting away and of international attention waning in the face of post Brexit logistical hurdles and pervasive economic gloom. The schedules felt thinner. The global buyers came less often. This September felt like a deliberate reversal.
These were not just fashion stories about hemlines or silhouettes, they were clear economic signals, highly calculated commercial decisions made in boardrooms months before a single model stepped onto a runway. The carefully planned return of McQueen and Mulberry, and the even more startling appearance of M&S, suggest a profound shift in corporate thinking about Britain itself. These are not simple gestures of patriotism. They are bets. They are calculated wagers by huge commercial enterprises on the perceived stability of the British market and on London's renewed viability as a global stage for selling either very expensive or very many clothes. This week's major moments were not really about the five key trends destined for your spring wardrobe. They were about capital. They were about confidence. They were about a city fighting its way back into the premier league of global commerce.
London had been left in the cold
The decline was not sudden. It was a slow puncture. For several years, London Fashion Week felt like an event fighting against a powerful tide, losing ground season by season to its European rivals. The reasons were structural. They were political. The 2016 Brexit vote, and its eventual implementation, was the primary cause, creating a web of new frictions that slowly strangled the frictionless movement of goods, people, and capital upon which the international fashion industry depends. London was suddenly outside the fence. It became harder to get here. It became more expensive to do business.
Before the UK left the European Union, a designer could load a collection into a van in Paris and drive it to a London venue with no more paperwork than if they were driving to Lyon. That ended. New customs rules, complex import declarations, and expensive carnet documents for temporary exports turned a simple logistical task into a costly administrative headache. A single missing form could mean a million pound collection of unique samples was held for days at the Port of Dover. The same applied to people. The end of free movement meant EU based models, photographers, stylists, and makeup artists suddenly required visas and work permits for a few days of work that had previously been effortless. The costs mounted. The risks grew. For many European brands, it was simply not worth the trouble.
This logistical drag had a direct commercial impact. It corroded London’s standing as a place to buy. International buyers, particularly those from the huge EU market, faced the prospect of new tariffs and taxes on any orders they placed with British based designers, adding a significant percentage to the wholesale cost. It was a deterrent. Their schedules are punishingly tight, a four week global marathon that starts in New York and ends in Paris. Time is money. They began to question the return on investment from the London leg, choosing instead to consolidate their budgets and their time in the commercially safer, tariff free harbours of Milan and Paris. The buyers stopped coming. Or at least, fewer of them did.
The pandemic accelerated the process. It forced fashion weeks online, breaking the cycle of physical attendance and proving that collections could, at a push, be shown digitally. As the world reopened, London struggled to recapture its pre pandemic momentum in a way that its rivals did not. The city's own economic gloom, a sustained period of low growth and squeezed consumer spending, made it a less attractive domestic market to sell into. The entire mood was one of managed decline. London felt isolated. It was a city caught between the creative energy of its famous design schools and the harsh commercial realities of a new life outside the world’s largest single market.
The money is making a decision
So what changed? These are not sentimental journeys. The decisions by Alexander McQueen and Mulberry to return to the London schedule after long absences, alongside the extraordinary debut of Marks and Spencer, are not acts of nostalgia but carefully costed commercial wagers on Britain’s economic trajectory. They represent a belief that the worst is over. When a house like McQueen, part of the French Kering group, commits to a show, it is because a spreadsheet somewhere in Paris has shown a positive number. Each move is a business decision. A calculated risk.
The bet is on a Britain that has, perhaps, found its economic footing after years of turbulence following the Brexit vote. The post departure chaos appears to be settling into a predictable, if not ideal, new reality for businesses that trade across the channel. For global brands, which plan their strategies years in advance, the decision to commit the significant resources required for a major runway show is a powerful leading indicator of future confidence. Signs of stabilising inflation and a slight, tentative uptick in consumer spending have made the UK a more palatable place to invest in again. It is a fragile recovery. Everyone knows this. But they see an opportunity.
The presence of Marks and Spencer is the most unusual signal. This is not a luxury brand. It is a bellwether of the British high street. Its appearance at London Fashion Week for its Spring Summer 2027 collection is a direct appeal to a different kind of consumer, an attempt to elevate its clothing brand and capture a share of the aspirational middle market. It is a strategic search for new ground. The move represents a huge investment in its own brand perception, but also a profound vote of confidence in the spending power of its core British customer base, suggesting the company believes people are willing to spend again on quality.
For the luxury players, the calculation is different. It is about global perception. London’s creative reputation never truly vanished, even during the difficult years, and by returning, brands like McQueen and Mulberry are seeking to reattach their commercial operations to that vibrant creative engine. They are looking for growth beyond saturated markets. They are recalibrating their view of Britain not as a lost part of the European Union, but as a distinct and potentially lucrative market in its own right. The numbers had to work. The return of international press and, crucially, buyers from the United States, Asia and the Middle East to the front rows this season suggests the audience they need is willing to come back too. The money has looked at the risk. The money has made its choice.
It is a fight between four cities
London does not operate in a vacuum. It never has. For decades, the global fashion industry has revolved around a fixed triangle of power, its points resting firmly in Paris, Milan, and New York. London was the fourth city. Always. The chaotic younger sibling, praised for its rebellious creativity but rarely trusted with the family silver, a place where designers were discovered before being spirited away to build their fortunes inside the serious commercial structures of France or Italy. This season felt different. The dynamic is shifting.
The European competition is immense. It is old money. Paris remains the undisputed centre of gravity, the home of haute couture and the headquarters of the luxury conglomerates that own a vast portfolio of the world’s most famous brands. Its position is protected by history, by immense institutional capital, and by a cultural prestige that makes a successful Paris show the ultimate symbol of global arrival. Milan offers a different but equally formidable challenge. Its authority is rooted in industry, in the peerless quality of Italian manufacturing and the enduring power of its great fashion houses, from Prada to Armani. After Brexit, these two cities became an almost closed system for European fashion. The logistics of showing in London, a city now outside the single market, were complex and expensive. The paperwork was a fortress. It was simpler for buyers to just stay on the continent.
New York’s power, meanwhile, is built on a different model entirely. It is pure commerce. The city’s fashion week is driven by the relentless pragmatism of the American market, a calendar organised around the needs of major department store buyers and a sharp focus on clothing that will sell. Its influence is amplified by the colossal engine of American celebrity and media, which can elevate a brand into a global phenomenon with a speed that European houses often struggle to match. New York represents a certain kind of safety. Its commercial focus provides a reliable barometer of what the world’s largest consumer market wants to buy right now, making it a lower risk proposition for brands cautious about economic headwinds. It is about the bottom line. It has always been about the bottom line.
Against these titans, London has always offered one thing. Creativity. Its reputation is forged in the studios of its world famous art schools, places like Central Saint Martins, which produced the late Lee Alexander McQueen himself. This has long been both a blessing and a curse. London was the incubator. The place for raw talent, for disruptive ideas, for the avant garde. But it was not seen as the place to build a billion pound business. The return of a house like McQueen, a brand with deep London roots but global commercial might, directly challenges that old assumption. It is a strategic reconnection. It suggests that London is no longer just a nursery. This shift aligns perfectly with a wider political ambition, where the government sees the creative industries as a vital instrument of British soft power in the post Brexit era. A vibrant, commercially successful London Fashion Week is a powerful advertisement for Global Britain. This is not about displacing Paris. It is about rejoining the top table as a credible fourth pillar.
The recovery is still fragile
One good week is not a recovery. The applause for the spring/summer 2027 collections has faded and the marquees along the Strand are gone. An unfamiliar optimism remains. But it is a fragile optimism. The return of giants like McQueen and Mulberry after years of absence, alongside the unprecedented debut of Marks & Spencer, feels like a significant shift for a city that has felt commercially adrift since the Brexit vote. It is not a guarantee of future success. It is a bet. It is a large, expensive, and very public wager that London is once again a viable place for global brands to do business. The fundamental challenges have not disappeared. They have simply been ignored for a week. The real work begins now.
The primary risk is the British consumer. Confidence is low. The economic picture remains stubbornly uncertain, with household budgets constrained by years of stagnant wages and persistent inflation that affects the price of everything from a loaf of bread to a winter coat. For a luxury house like Mulberry, this domestic weakness can be offset by international tourists and wealthy overseas clients who are less sensitive to the UK's economic climate. The M&S debut changes the calculation entirely. Its presence ties London Fashion Week’s success directly to the health of the British high street and the spending power of millions of ordinary people in a way it never has been before. That market is weak. It is deeply precarious. A fashion week can generate headlines and cultural cachet, but it cannot force a shopper in Sheffield or Cardiff to spend money they do not have on a new collection.
International pressure is also relentless. Paris, Milan and New York are not static. They watched London’s success in September 2026, and their organising bodies will now be working furiously to ensure the world’s attention, and the world’s money, snaps back to them for the next round of shows. Paris holds the crown for ultimate luxury. Milan boasts an unmatched heritage in manufacturing. New York offers a direct line into the world’s most powerful consumer market. London cannot compete with them on their own terms. Its revival depends on maintaining its unique edge, that unpredictable fusion of raw creativity and now, it seems, renewed commercial ambition. This is a difficult balance. One bad season, a few key designers choosing to show elsewhere, or a loss of political will could see the international spotlight move on just as quickly as it arrived. Momentum is hard won. It is easily lost.
This one successful week in September is merely a signal. It is a possibility. It is not a finished recovery. The real test is not whether McQueen came home for one collection, but whether its parent company Kering commits to London for the next season and the one after that. The decision by Mulberry to return to the runway will be scrutinised against sales figures, judged on whether the buzz justifies the expense over a more conventional marketing campaign. The true measure for Marks & Spencer is whether a business built on volume and value sees a tangible benefit from an event so associated with the aspirational and the avant garde. These answers will not be found in editorials. They will be found on balance sheets. They will appear in the financial results of the next quarter. The story is not over.
Sources. BBC News World: London Fashion Week 2026: The five trends we'll see in spring. Evening Standard: London Fashion Week SS27: Five major moments, from M&S to McQueen.
Analysis. Drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed above and reviewed by an editor before publication. Jnews links to the organisations it writes about.
