Across the board, there was a resounding focus on eveningwear, and designers used dressmaking and tailoring to exhibit the best of their honed crafts. Feben adopted a new show format for the season, opting for a salon-style presentation where the audience could truly experience the tactile quality of her designs. The gathered, ruching technique that the designer has become known for was rendered metallic blue and bronze – each nobbily tuck and fold visible from up close. Drawing inspiration from the deaf Spanish flamenco dancer Antonia Singla, polka dots — a seasonal favourite — adorned scooped dresses, while shimmering sequins captured the essence of the dancefloor.

Feben SS25

Feben SS25

Aaron Esh’s approach to eveningwear was less glitz, more glamour. Now in its third season, the brand played with the idea of dressing up only to dress it down. Swathes of satin swept the concrete floor of the Shoreditch Electric, a hollowed-out industrial building home of the National Circus, while skinny leather trousers and mini shorts were worn with mesh tops and bugle-bead collars that trickled down the décolletage. The dressing down part came in the form of AE-branded baseball caps (now a cult classic) and trailing hems purposefully left unfinished in Esh’s low-octane sense of glamour.

Aaron Esh SS25

Aaron Esh SS25

Karoline Vitto also delivered standout partywear, with draped dresses that wrapped around the body in innovative ways, tastefully revealing and concealing. Her signature curved metal accents returned in a big way, this time crafted in collaboration with Brazilian jeweler Carlos Penna. The water-resistant, bendable metal closures are now adjustable to any body shape. In an industry often marked by tokenistic diversity, Vitto’s designs genuinely catered to a range of body types, offering a refreshing — and much-needed — addition to the runway.

Karoline Vitto SS25

Karoline Vitto SS25

Elsewhere, Tolu Coker’s vision of dress-up was influenced by her parents’ iconic 1960s and 1970s style. Drawing inspiration from family photos, she showcased candy-striped mini dresses and ties, alongside tailored pieces in warm sepia tones. Vibrant leathers in lime green and dusty blue were paired with dogtooth denim, a callback to Coker’s first collection. Hats of every shape and size, created in collaboration with Virna Pasquinelli, made a bold statement — Coker’s parents, after all, never left home without one. The joyous finale saw models holding hands and dancing with exuberant smiles, capturing the positive energy that Coker injected into the week. It was a fitting reminder that, no matter the challenges, London fashion will keep on dancing.

Tolu Coker SS25

Tolu Coker SS25

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