11 trends grown-ups will want to wear from London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is over for another season and with it a raft of new looks to covet for spring/summer 2025. From the new way to wear florals to the pieces which will pep up next season’s outfits, read on for the definitive grown-ups’ guide to the key collections and looks to know…

Macro florals: SS Daley

Forget about the ditsies and embrace enormous floral prints next summer. That was the message in several designer’s collections – but SS Daley’s varied takes (inspired by Constance Spry, the florist to high society in the 1920s and 30s) felt like the most exciting and experimental. Beaded skirts and tank tops made some blooming motifs look almost pixelated, while other highlights included a knife-pleated dress splashed with painterly petals. Given that Stokey-Daley scooped the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design this week too, might we expect to see the latter dress on, say, the Princess of Wales at next year’s Chelsea Flower Show? CL

Luxe preppy: Kent and Curwen

Kent & Curwen has been making rowing, rugby and cricket kits for nearly a century, so the preppy look is in its DNA. Put that through the lens of the chief creative officer Daniel Kearns – a designer who has held senior positions at Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent – and the result is something more luxurious, grown-up and covetable.

There were lots of classics done well: trench coats, blazers nipped in at the waist, tailored wide-legged trousers. It was also Kent & Curwen’s first foray into womenswear, with pleated miniskirts slit to the waistband, worn over men’s boxers.

There was something of the school rebel about it all – ties repurposed as belts, shirts printed with handwriting. “September is a time of a rebirth or restart, which made a lot of sense for the brand,” Kearns said after the show. “This idea of throwing off the school uniform and growing into yourself over that summer between school and college or work felt like a pivotal moment.” TA

The talking point skirt: Emilia Wickstead

Emilia Wickstead’s graceful swans have toughened up a little in recent seasons. Now they wear flat shoes and even, in this collection, ties, inspired by the German-born French photographer Gisèle Freund. But Wickstead’s ladylike core remains with plenty of options for the social set to choose from next season, from candyfloss pink strapless prom styles to dazzlingly embellished gowns and micro-mini skirts.

But if you don’t inhabit the world of chauffeur-driven cars and crammed social calendars, there were still plenty of options here, such as the looks comprising polo knits with fuzzy collars and beautiful midi skirts, this one with a pressed floral motif. It’s an outfit formula to carry you from 9am to 9pm (and beyond). BH

An oversized bomber: JW Anderson

In the 16 years since he burst onto London’s fashion scene (initially with a menswear collection), the Londonderry-born Anderson (who has also turned the Spanish house Loewe into one of the most electrifying fashion brands in the world right now) has become a powerhouse of ideas. Don’t come looking for an unassuming cashmere crewneck or some blend-into-the-background black trousers. Much of what comes down his catwalk is conceptual. Drop-waist leather disc dresses anyone?

While that pleases the art school crowd (and those who pretend they went to art school), he’s also very good at statement pieces early fashion adopters have to have (and the high street copies and adapts). This capacious, khaki satin bomber is a case in point. But where he outflanks just about all his peers currently is in bags: witness this covetable squishy exemplar – a play on the much-sought-after Loewe Puzzle bag for sure. But then he invented the original, so he’s entitled to. LA

The jewel silk shirt: Roksanda

Roksanda Ilincic is famed for her “colour drench” outfits – the act of dressing top to toe in an unapologetically bold hue. But this season, she toned things down, just a tad. “It’s definitely a more muted colour palette,” she said backstage. “But obviously I can’t resist bringing some colour.” When brights were applied, they were joyous and often jewel-toned. A seemingly simple look – a peridot green satin blouse tucked into tailored trousers, tied with an amethyst belt – served as a reminder that anyone can wear such interesting colour combinations. Let the classic silk blouse be your starting point. CL

The bias cut, fit and flare dress: Tove

Tove, like the similar sounding Swedish brand, Toteme, aims to serve the woman looking for high-end style at a more realistic price than The Row, whose aesthetic both brands have riffed on. That doesn’t make it cheap, but this isn’t high street quality. Languid, draped midis and maxis, wide-lapelled blazers and, for evening, metallic knits – these are clothes for busy confident women who know that the hallmark of modern luxury and glamour is understated.

Everything’s worn with flat sandals and babouche backless slippers, squishy bags, sculptural jewellery and minimal-looking make-up. Smart long shirts, worn on their own over trousers, or loose, under blazers, are a feature, as they are in other collections. Tove’s two designer-founders, Camille Perry and Holly Wright, learned their business at Topshop (“in its glory years,” they point out). There’s a pragmatism here too: everything works together and there’s a sense of ease rather than preciousness. LA

Polka dots: Edeline Lee

The trend spotted both on and off the catwalk this season? Polka dots – as seen on front row-ers from Anna Wintour to Victoria Starmer. They were prevalent in several of the spring collections shown during New York Fashion Week, but it was Edeline Lee who did them best in London. Her inky navy smudges were drawn from the works of the tapestry artist Carolina Mazzolari and manipulated into a new print on silk. She worked them into pretty, soft blouses and wide-leg trousers, flowing dresses and even eveningwear looks – such as a structured ball dress with a shredded fringe polka-dot cape draped from the shoulders. CL

The jazzy dress: 16Arlington

Well if the 16Arlington show wasn’t a breath of balmy fresh air – the Telegraph fashion team all came out wanting to get a bouncy blowdry and fly away somewhere warm instantly. Designer Marco Capaldo said the collection represented “a return to joy” and this feeling was infused in every look, from sheer Tequila Sunrise-hued dresses to feathered and beaded skirts. But it’s this canary yellow tassel dress which felt like the ultimate expression of the tropical mood – you can totally imagine Elizabeth Taylor wearing it to sip a cocktail by the pool. One to bookmark for next summer’s big holiday. BH

The new French dressing: Aaron Esh

With slinky, draped evening gowns, velvet blazers, leather and a predominantly black palette, the Aaron Esh show seemed like a Parisian fashion person’s interpretation of spring/summer dressing – very Carine Roitfeld. But Esh’s inspiration was actually closer to home: “Hackney boys who have the most elevated, expensive wardrobe,” he said after the show. “[They’re] looking on Vestiaire [Collective, the designer fashion resale site] for six months for this really expensive thing that they’re going to keep forever.”

The label is only in its third season, but it clearly has legs as a future luxury player. Not only does the collection have commercial promise and a sense of timelessness about it (read: clothes people will want to buy and wear and keep for a long time), he’s also got the required ambition. “I wanted to do a show that can stand up against any show in the world,” he said. “That’s how we wanted to approach every aspect of this season.” TA

The featherweight coat: Simone Rocha

Simone Rocha’s show was a gorgeous treat for grown-ups who still hanker after the pale pink leotards and tutus they once wore in ballet classes. Cleverly, Rocha peppered in plenty of pieces which may not be literal re-creations of that nostalgic look but will allow us to tap into it alongside our usual jeans or tailored trousers – a fuzzy “tinsel twinset” and a beautiful gossamer-light ivory coat with carnations trapped between the layers were particular stars of the show. And yes, those are the next iteration of Rocha’s bejewelled Crocs which were so in demand with Gen Zs this summer on the model’s feet – the new ballerina shoes? BH

The pastel suit: Erdem

The defiantly different gay author Radclyffe Hall, whose notorious novel, The Well of Loneliness, was banned in 1928, proved a fertile source of inspiration for Erdem’s latest collection. The tailoring – produced in collaboration with Sexton of London (whose late founder, Edward Sexton, made suits for The Beatles, The Stones, Stella McCartney, Annie Lennox, Harry Styles and Mark Ronson) is superbly dandy-esque, with softening touches, including, strikingly, strong yet pastel colours. Blazer cuffs were finished with an external label featuring a facsimile of the original cover of The Well. What a pleasingly literary diversion from blingy monograms.

Pinstriped, double-breasted, black or pistachio, the blazers were worn as complete suits or with embellished skirts. Radclyffe’s lover, the archly feminine Una Troubridge, turned Erdem’s thoughts to outstanding flapper dresses: sinuous 1920s silk satin columns in chartreuse or cerise, iced with crystal jewellery (or fringing and trailing sashes), and a striking Poiret-style drop-waist puff skirt made from pistachio denim encrusted with jewels. LA