When the summer ends and you head back to work after the much needed heat and rest, the grind doesn’t stop in the fashion world. Each September marks a significant event for the fashion fanatics, press and designers, London Fashion Week. This Autumn we welcome the return of British cult brand McQueen, the arrival of high-street staple M&S as the first non-luxury label to take space on the runway and Christopher Kane’s entrance, giving us his first anticipated Mulberry collection. Amongst the September loyalists we have the New Gen on the block.
Supported by The British Fashion Council (BFC), emerging designers in the cohort have been offered mentoring from industry professionals and financial support to fulfil their creative needs. The BFC New Gen initiative has even propelled the likes of McQueen to stardom. London Fashion Week acts as a playground for new on the scene designers to show off their collections on the same catwalks as their idols and now peers. Let’s take a look at three New Gen’s you must keep up with this season.
Petra Fagerström
Swedish-born but London-based fashion designer, Petra Fagerström, was elected as the hottest young designer early this year. This tells us all we need to know about the designer at the upcoming London Fashion week. But first, let’s get to know the newcomer. Petra began sewing figure skating dresses for her competitions as a child. This, in addition to her love for Rhianna’s style as a teenager, bore her fascination with fashion.
Her taste for handmade clothing forced her into a clear path where she later worked at Balenciaga and Acne Studios. Completing her Masters at Central Saint Martins (CSM), the hub for the best of the best fashion designers to enhance their skill set, put her in the right stead.
Petra’s designs tell a complicated story of her time figure skating. Her ‘After Everything I Did For You’ collection was designed to show the juxtaposition between the polished image of ice skaters and who they are when they take their tight hairstyles out and sit rinkside with a parka jacket on. Here she blended feminine silhouettes with fur accessories and sharp tailoring to give an anti-feminine feel.
Photos: Andrew Nuding and Jameela Elfaki
Another collection of hers explored her obsession with lenticular pleating, where the clothing visually transforms with movement. Recollection///405 builds a story of AI and how it distorts our memory, creating dreamlike fantasies. The pleating of designs is this collection creates an illusion of glitching, creating a portal between the real and AI world. I remember seeing a dress from this collection at Dover Street Market Paris and it bore my love for her: the raunchiness to her craft, designs to make you feel almost alien as she is not afraid to create femininity and destroy it at the same time. Expect to see optical illusions and the exploration of feminine codes in her collection at London Fashion Week this Friday, 18th September, 2026.
Oscar Ouyang
This newcomer will be returning to our runway with his first womenswear collection. Oscar Ouyang, the fashion designer who is making waves in the industry is highly anticipated this season. Born in Beijing, studying a BA and MA in Fashion at CSM and going on to showcase his ready-to-wear collection at Dover Street Market has awarded him attention. Known for exploring gender fluidity in his designs, Oscar will be approaching womenswear directly and purposefully.
Photos: Courtesy of Vogue
During the design process, the New Gen creative has taken thoughtful inspiration from movies with complexed representations of women, gender and sexuality like Orlando and Queer. Oscar told Wallpaper*: “Growing up in Beijing, I always felt a bit different being queer. While other boys were playing basketball and football, I was weirdly attracted to magazines. I’d just stare at all these covers on magazine stands and felt I’d love to be part of that. I moved to London when I was 17 for St Martins Foundation, BA and MA, and my practice has always been fashion design with knitwear. I’ve always loved that with knit, I’m controlling the outcome.
Expect a melancholic feel to Oscar’s designs this Friday, 18th September, 2026. We predict that the catwalk will witness a return of his anime, fantasy and medieval folklore through imaginative knitwear. His effortless fusion of Studio Ghibli and Zelda references with inspiration drawn from designers like Number (N)ine is fascinating. Oscar is one to keep note of for his interesting British historical references filtered through his Chinese perspective.
Talia Byre
Hailing from Chesire, UK, New Gen designer Talia Lipkin-Connor is stripping back her notorious colourful and striking prints this season. The CSM graduate is known in the field for creating the ultimate cult London wardrobe, defining women’s fashion. Talia comes from a family of tailors and seamstresses, owning shops in Liverpool. In the 1960’s her uncle opened Lucinda Byre, a boutique enjoyed by many celebrities of the time. Her grandfather dressed the Beatles so her talent is sewn into her DNA at this point.
The designer has researched into her heritage and uses her family’s story in clothmaking as a source of inspiration and motivation. Now you will find her in her East London studio, handcrafting garments for her label Talia Byre, pieces which are made to live in, stocked on SSENSE and FarFetch.
Photos: Esther Theaker
Talia’s quintessentially British label is redefining itself into a fashion brand that prioritises simplicity. We cannot wait to see what she delivers this Saturday, September 19th, 2026, as it is rumoured that she is striping back the bold prints, swapping for a minimal aesthetic. The mission is to build longevity in the brand rather than being part of the destructive fashion cycle.
Talia brings the fun yet luxury essentials to the catwalk by mismatching prints and colour to curate collections that seem familiar but make you look twice. Gallerist Angelica Joping has said: “Talia creates the perfect uniform for the city girl, layering utilitarianism and sexiness like cream and jam.” And there is no better way to put it.
