Having last season celebrated its 40th anniversary, the autumn/winter 2025 edition of London Fashion Week finds itself at another milestone: it’ll be the last season overseen by Caroline Rush, the British Fashion Council’s long-reining CEO. “I couldn’t be prouder of what we at the BFC have achieved and how we have adapted to constant innovation and change,” said Rush, who will soon pass on the mantle to former British Vogue editor and creative director of Selfridges, Laura Weir. “The resilience and creativity of our designers and industry is exceptional, and I have huge respect for this dynamic community. I know firsthand that when the community comes together, it can achieve what is sometimes thought to be impossible.”

Those words hold just as much weight now as when Rush first accepted the role 16 years ago. For while a healthy contingent of stalwarts like Simone Rocha, Erdem, Fashion East, Richard Quinn and Burberry will be mounting physical runways, an increasing number of homegrown brands – among them Knwls, Ahluwalia, Karoline Vitto, Johanna Parv and Stefan Cooke – are forgoing the cost of organising a catwalk, choosing instead to reveal their autumn/winter 2025 proposals by way of lookbook and film. There will be a JW Anderson-shaped hole for reasons that might already be obvious to industry sleuths, while Chopova Lowena and Nensi Dojaka are continuing to show only during September. This trimmed-down schedule – not to mention the week-long pause included post-New York – will provide a chance to again reconsider the limits of the seasonal grind.

Scroll down below for everything to expect from London Fashion Week autumn/winter 2025, which begins with an off-schedule presentation from Mainline:Rus/Fr.Ca/De on Thursday 20, and ends with Burberry’s tentpole showing on Monday 24 February.

Thinking beyond the (expensive) confines of the catwalk will help smaller designers seize the spotlight. Talia Byre has, of course, been doing this for several seasons: inviting members of the press to explore her collections in the comfort of her east London studio, dutifully stocked with Lant Street wine, while often hosting salon-style presentations in independent book shops, as she will do for autumn/winter 2025. This season will see three more designers – Aaron Esh, Patrick McDowell and Marco Capaldo of 16Arlington – sideline the catwalk for intimate dinner parties. “The reality is that fashion shows are incredibly expensive to put on, and in this current economic climate, it didn’t feel right to try and force it,” says McDowell. “I’m excited to be able to sit and talk with friends of the brand and see them connecting to our pieces up close. Fashion’s foundations are shifting and we are all feeling out this new climate together as a community.” Eckhaus Latta proved this format could be just as – if not much more – engaging during the spring/summer 2024 season of New York Fashion Week.

On the final day of London Fashion Week, the BFC will host a joint showroom for its Newgen collective – bringing together Ancuta Sarca, Johanna Parv, Karoline Vitto, Kazna Asker, Lueder, Masha Papova, Paolo Carzana and Pauline Dujancourt – a number of whom will have made the difficult decision to save cash by opting out of physical shows. This alternative isn’t bad. “Quite a lot of them will be doing digital activations,” says Rush. “But here, they’ll have an opportunity to meet the buyers, press and consumers in person. It’s the excitement you generate in London that carries into Paris, and then translates into orders. Keeping the heat on these designers couldn’t be more important than it is at the moment, to be honest.” True: garner enough momentum and brands will need to show their collections just once every 12 months, like social media favourites Dilara Fındıkoğlu and Conner Ives, who are returning for the autumn/winter 2025 season. “This is the era of pursuing things differently and not following the system,” said Fındıkoğlu this time last year. “I threw an amazing party for Halloween where I still got to dress loads of people and showcase my work.”

At 9pm on Thursday evening, Central Saint Martins will unveil 18 collections authored by its graduating MA class at 180 Strand – after which, 1664 Blanc-fuelled showgoers might (might) be lured across town to see Opia crash London Fashion Week… again. “Opia started in response to seeing all our queer nightlife spaces booked up with London Fashion Week after-parties and us not being let in,” said founders Bambi Dyboski and Bautista Botto Barilli at an east London night last spring. “There is such a disconnect between brands wanting to capitalise on our ‘coolness’ and not putting us on the list.” What does it mean, then, when a brand as mainstream as Converse comes knocking on the bathroom stall, inviting this outsider entourage to host a fashion week afters of its own? Well, a lot. “The girls just want a place where they can wear an outfit and get a professional photo.” This party – though a little more grown-up than its usual warehouse raves – will see Opia’s regulars take to a “meta-ironic”, “reality show simulation” in varying takes on the brand’s classic Chuck Taylors, soundtracked to DJ sets from the likes of Taahliah, Salvia, Manuka Honey and Becky Stroke.

Real ones – aka Lily-Rose Depp, Jill Kortleve, Amelia Gray, Iris Law, Lila Moss, Rosalía, Gabbriette, Rachel Sennott and Devon Lee Carlson – know that Nuovo has the best curation of vintage clothing in Paris, and, as of the 18 to 25 November, London, where it will find a temporary home on 59 Greek Street. “The dream of having a vintage store was born out of the desire to share the unique feeling of finding good deals,” Lisa Lingenti, who opened the store less than three years ago, said. “I wanted to give others the opportunity to find the perfect piece at a reasonable price without having to spend hours rummaging through bins or websites.” Though Lingenti keeps in stock items ranging from Miss Sixty, Jean Paul Gaultier, Mugler, Diesel and Versace – as well as a slew of Italian labels that she describes as “an explosion of sexy chic sometimes on the verge of bad taste” – her eye is attracted more to the vibe of a piece than the label stitched inside it. And if you ever wondered where those aforementioned celebrities learned to dress so well, I’d recommend looking at Nuovo’s Instagram grid.

Hair & Care is a non-profit broadening access to fashion and beauty to those with low vision, and despite having entered the fashion week arena just 12 months ago, has already amassed an impressive series of firsts. (It was the first organisation to make a catwalk presentation accessible to people with visual impairments, and the first organisation to bring a blind model to Copenhagen Fashion Week.) This season, the Hair & Care team will partner with three brands – welcoming back Chet Lo and partnering for the first time with Roksanda and SS Daley – on providing tactile tours of their collections to a curated guest list of prominent figures within sight loss, as well as young fashion fans living with low vision, while also pre-recording detailed audio descriptions of the clothes, and creating swatch booklets showcasing key fabrics so the shows can be experienced in real-time. “The people who come to our workshops leave feeling changed,” said founder Anna Cofone, who will be styling the hair for all three presentations. “Less isolated, empowered to take on a more visible role in public life. It’s about giving people a purpose, confidence and a chance to harness their identities.”