Tattoos, sashes and car-seat leather: five new names at London Fashion Week

Tattoo prints, Cypriot robes and car-seat leather marked out five emerging designers at London Fashion Week.

London Fashion Week, the twice-yearly showcase organised by the British Fashion Council, ran from 17 to 21 September 2026. WWD, the US fashion trade publication, named Dreaming Eli, Charlie Constantinou, Joyce Bao, Yaku and Leo Prothmann as designers to watch in a round-up published on 22 September.

Dreaming Eli is the label of Elisa Trombatore, a Sicilian designer. The official schedule listed a Dreaming Eli catwalk, a runway show, during the week. For spring, Trombatore worked with distressed and stained laces and ripped silks. The newest technique was screen-printed tattoo designs applied directly to fabric and skin.

Charlie Constantinou looked to Cypriot heritage. His spring collection drew on the 19th-century shift in Cyprus from Ottoman rule to British governance. He translated that history into dress. The line-up referenced pleated vrakas, the wide traditional breeches, layered antari, long robe-coats, and zostra, woven sashes. His cast wore Nike Re-Create shoes, from Nike, the US sportswear company.

Joyce Bao made her London debut. Bao is an American Chinese designer and a graduate of Central Saint Martins, the London art and design school. She had shown earlier during Shanghai Fashion Week. In London she held a womenswear presentation, where models pose rather than walk, listed as invite-only from 12:00 to 17:00. The collection was informed by two very different sources. One was On the Dot, a work by Joan Miró, the Spanish painter. The other was lace curtains her mother had thrifted in Florida.

Yaku Stapleton built his collection around family. Working in collaboration with Nike, he reimagined relatives through cloth. Reptile scales, zebra prints and sequins were combined in the same looks. The effect was personal and direct. Family became pattern.

Leo Prothmann took over The Mandrake hotel. He staged the collection as a techno dungeon. It was a response to London's dying nightlife. The clothes were repurposed. Prothmann used unusable leather car-seat hides donated by Aston Martin, the British carmaker. Rick Owens, the American designer, donated 35 pairs of shoes. Prothmann reworked them and painted them with animal-like designs inspired by Street, Berlin, a painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the German artist.

What makes this stand out is the mix of handcraft and borrowed material. Lace is stained. Leather is saved from scrap. History is cut close to the body.

The week was not only about newcomers. WWD reported that Erdem and Simone Rocha drew a strong response from buyers with their Spring 2027 collections, the ranges that will reach shops next year.