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Simone Rocha’s collection notes began with five verbs: “Screaming, crying, laughing, dying, flirting.” Her brilliant show in London on Sunday night was an exploration of the feelings we experience in our most intimate moments, when no one is looking and we can decide whether to hide in fear or get out there and make a statement. It was also about the excruciating and exhilarating emotions of love, as well as the power of nuance.

Gesture and intrigue were interpreted as a fluttery tutu topped with a prim cardigan made naughty, thanks to giant cutouts over the bust. Models, some in fluid gowns that were decidedly hot for the flounce-obsessed Rocha, held their hands softly together at their waist or in their pockets, or clutched at their coats as if to keep themselves covered.

Our everyday gestures and moods were the focus here, made fantastical by Rocha’s genius and provocative designs. A transparent dress with a mushroom-cap-shaped skirt stood out, as did a pair of bodysuits printed with the work of artist Genieve Figgis. Figgis is known for painting darker, more devious depictions of idyllic gentry life, and her vision mashed up with Rocha’s gave even more weight to this collection about the little things.

Jonathan Anderson has always been a master of making the little things seem huge. He did it again this season at JW Anderson, this time by forcing himself to work with only four materials for the entire Spring 2025 collection: silk, sequins, leather, and cashmere. Anderson’s message centered on the near-comical and near-fatal amount of excess within the luxury fashion business over the last few years. We’re in a moment right now when luxury houses are out-pricing each other by the day and losing customers by doing so—not to mention the severe problem of overproduction and, from a creative perspective, maximalism for the sake of clicks.

By limiting his materials, Anderson was able to create a collection that reminded us of the importance of craft in fashion—of the humanity behind the making of a garment. He turned a boring hoodie into a trompe l’oeil minidress, a simple tank-and-skirt pairing into a galactic urban goddess uniform, and a detail of a generic cross-weave into an exaggerated embellishment.

Where Anderson gave us surrealist versions of simplistic clothes and challenged us to reduce in order to stand out, Burberry creative director Daniel Lee mashed up utility and frivolity. This new collection was a sweet spot for Lee, who found a really nice synergy between the heritage of the British fashion house and its future. It was, as Lee wrote at the start of his collection notes, “grounded in easy elegance.”

Indeed, the blush pink draped beaded and sequined fringe dress was brought down to earth in the coolest way possible when paired with an oversize anorak. An orange evening skirt was made practical with a belted Burberry tartan belt and an open-weave polo. The outerwear—Burberry’s bread-and-butter—didn’t overpower but instead served to emphasize the beauty of the details in this new wardrobe language from Lee. In his words: “Creativity feels inherently British; expressive silhouettes are infused with familiarity.”

London Fashion Week has always been the freakier kid on the block, as far as the industry is concerned. It’s a birthplace for the boundary breakers and a playing field for punks. If last season felt a bit dire, with emerging designers having to cancel shows and reduce collections because of financial hardships, this season there was more optimism, even in the midst of ongoing struggle. That’s the beauty of British fashion—the ability to keep building and to face reality, while also finding ways to push back and challenge the status quo.

Rocha, Lee, and Anderson certainly did both this season, but so did many young talents who are on the rise, like 16Arlington’s Marco Capaldo, Tove Studio, Feben, Charlotte Knowles, Tolu Coker, Jawara Alleyne, and Karoline Vitto. The future may still not be quite bright from a business perspective, but no matter—they’ll keep creative and carry on.

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