Beyond Spectacle: The New Emotional Language of London Fashion Week AW26
This season, London Fashion Week was defined by emotion rather than scale. Designers explored how clothing connects with memory, identity and collective experience. The spectrum ranged from the introspective mood of Masha Popova’s Intimate Hours to the exuberant pop-cultural energy of JimmyPaul’s collaboration with Pokémon, where fashion became a shared visual language between designer and audience
JimmyPaul x Pokémon
At London Fashion Week, JimmyPaul’s collaboration with Pokémon demonstrated how pop culture can operate as a fashion language rather than decoration.
Celebrating Pokémon’s 30-year legacy, the designer engaged collective memory but translated it into proportion, material and silhouette rather than sentiment.
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
The Pikachu section referenced Japanese workwear and the chromatic boldness of the 1980s. Yellow functioned not as a symbol but as visual dominance.
Oversized silhouettes and structured layering created a dialogue between utility and theatricality. A universally recognizable character became a study in visibility and identity.
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
The Eevee-inspired looks shifted toward softness through transparency and layered volume. The effect was controlled rather than sweet — femininity expressed as composure.
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
Metallic tailoring and racing references connected ’90s streetwear with futuristic fantasy. Glossy lilac surfaces, structured shoulders and industrial detailing suggested speed and digital culture.
Exaggerated padded forms and experimental textures functioned as commentary on transformation — in fashion and in self-image.
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
Placing a character like Pikachu directly onto the runway questioned fashion hierarchy and authorship. The show reflects a broader industry shift toward emotional branding and cross-generational storytelling. Luxury no longer distances itself from pop culture — it absorbs it.
JimmyPaul’s presentation was not simply playful. It was deliberate, culturally aware and aligned with fashion’s ongoing exploration of identity and memory.
Photo: PR / JimmyPaul
Masha Popova
“Intimate Hours” takes the bedroom as its starting point — a private interior where memory, desire and everyday ritual translate into fabric and silhouette. With a subtle nod to Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, the atmosphere exists somewhere between late night and early morning.
The soft pink knit look introduces the mood: intimate and slightly nostalgic, yet composed. Bare legs paired with oversized boots create contrast, grounding softness with strength.
Alongside it, a structured bodice worn with deconstructed denim brings a sense of control. The lines are clear and the silhouette deliberate. Intimacy here is constructed rather than delicate.
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
Throughout the collection, softness is balanced with assertive tailoring. A charcoal coat curves around the body with sculptural volume, protective without severity. Pink stockings interrupt the restraint with a subtle human detail.
An oversized sage denim jacket continues this dialogue. Initially utilitarian, its softened surface and hand-finished treatment give it familiarity, almost like a garment kept over time. Even outerwear carries emotional weight. In Popova’s world, protection feels calm.
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
Denim remains central to the collection. It is brushed, treated and distressed to suggest wear rather than trend. Extended belts lengthen the silhouette, while jackets appear softened through use. The focus is less on youth culture and more on experience — clothing shaped by time.
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
Fabric manipulation is restrained. Lace-like textures dissolve into the surface, and jersey becomes nearly transparent. Silk, wool and cellulose-based fabrics are printed to create diffused effects, as though softened by memory. Decoration is minimal; atmosphere takes priority.
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
As the show progresses, the mood shifts. Two corset mini dresses mark this moment.
The first, vibrant and textured, feels spontaneous and alive, its painterly surface held in place by controlled structure. The black leather version sharpens the tone. Stripped back and precise, it creates tension between exposure and strength through its fitted bodice and bare shoulders. Romance here becomes exact rather than sentimental.
These looks form the emotional peak of Intimate Hours, where feeling becomes physical and femininity is defined through presence.
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
Popova’s AW26 collection stands out for its quiet confidence. Instead of spectacle, she builds atmosphere through material and proportion. The result is a sense of clarity — and in the current fashion landscape, that clarity reads as modern.
Photo: PR / Masha Popova
