London has McQueen back — and it changes the shape of the week

London Fashion Week runs September 17 to 21, and the provisional schedule looks stronger than it has in several seasons: shows, presentations, experimental formats and, above all, the return of names that had been away.

The headline: McQueen, under Seán McGirr, shows at home again. The decision was reportedly pushed by new CEO Gianfranco D’Attis, in post since June. The second: Christopher Kane debuts his collection for Mulberry, where he was appointed creative director in March, years after his own label closed in 2023.

In the same best-of-British vein, Marks & Spencer marks a century in fashion with a co-ed, see-now-buy-now runway show. The week opens with a Barbour presentation and closes with Burberry.

The backbone comes from the regulars: Erdem, Simone Rocha, Ashley Williams, Harris Reed, Emilia Wickstead, Knwls, Ahluwalia, Roksanda, Richard Quinn, Natasha Zinko. Chopova Lowena returns to a proper catwalk after last season’s crazy-golf presentation. Runway highlights include Paolo Carzana and Aaron Esh, who doubles as AllSaints’s creative director.

There are plenty of first-timers. Sweden’s Petra Fagerström makes her runway debut, while Francesca Lake and Gui Rosa stage their first presentations; all three hold BFC NewGen backing, in partnership with Pull&Bear. Other funding recipients return: A Letter, Charlie Constantinou, Ewusie, Johanna Parv, Liza Keane, Octi, Oscar Ouyang, Pauline Dujancourt, Steve O Smith, The Ouze, Yaku. Add Geordie Campbell, Indian minimalist label Lovebirds and Joyce Bao, a success story of Paul Smith’s Foundation.

This is the third week since the council’s reset under Laura Weir, a journalist whose CV runs through British Vogue, Selfridges and the Evening Standard. Her line: less a London-centric organisation, more a connected, decentralised incubator that puts designers first. “I’m intent on refining the mentoring part so that it includes business resilience,” Weir has said. “What’s important is that we’re upskilling and sharing with designers lessons in how to appropriately spend the funding they get from us.”

A separate block targets retail. A jewellery collection shows at concept store Dover Street Market; a pre-loved runway staged with eBay can be shopped live; and designer spotlights run through the Selfridges flagship. H&M, after last year’s debut, returns with a reimagined take on the show format alongside image-maker Nick Knight. Fashion East, led by Lulu Kennedy, stays on the schedule: last year the council allotted £1.3 million in grants and scholarships.