London Fashion Week Style on and Off the Runway: Plaids, Pleats & Tulle
Style Outside
A Forecast Calling for Plaids, Pleats and Tulle
At London Fashion Week, all took notable forms on the runways and the streets.
Plaid offerings in Burberry’s collection included a tidy trench coat and a thin tie.
Style Outside
A Forecast Calling for Plaids, Pleats and Tulle
At London Fashion Week, all took notable forms on the runways and the streets.
Plaid offerings in Burberry’s collection included a tidy trench coat and a thin tie.Credit...
Photographs and Text by Simbarashe Cha
Simbarashe Cha wrote the text and made these photographs for Style Outside, a visual column that explores street style around the world.
- Sept. 25, 2025
The spirit of London Fashion Week is known to be more than a little rebellious. Though that spirit can translate to style that reflects the city’s relationship with rock music, it is also exemplified in other ways on and off the runways.
If the collections shown this month at fashion week, which ended on Monday, are any indication, a lot of tulle, pleating and women’s suiting is in store for the near future. As is pink, which appeared on the runways at Burberry, in the forms of a full suit and a tight cropped jacket, and at Chopova Lowena, in the form of, among other things, a hot-pink-and-black-striped matching set worn beneath a cat-print coat with pointy ears on the hood.
The streets were peppered with different iterations of pleated skirts, with lengths that ran from mini to long. Feathered looks were another recurring motif, as was the layering of ruffles, which gave certain ensembles the flavor of sweet baked goods.
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A corporate ensemble that was the opposite of stuffy.
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These looks passing in front of the Burberry runway’s sky-like backdrop created a scene with the colors of a sunrise.
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The Erdem show featured a sumptuous pinstripe suit with the ease of pajamas.
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A copper garment’s ample fringe recalled that of a Koosh ball.
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A pop of pink and wispy hair tendrils were romantic touches to Rashida Jones’s look at the Erdem show.
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Clusters of white feathers resembled wings worn backward.
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Naomi Campbell graced the Richard Quinn runway in an elegant column gown.
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A tulle top that evoked a soft exoskeleton.
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Layers with the same shade, but different textures.
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A model’s heavy brows contrasted with an airy confection in the Bora Aksu collection.
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A delectable pairing of cozy sweater and cupcake skirt.
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Simone Rocha’s show featured wedding shorts, far right, for the modern bride.
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A skirt with multiple personalities.
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Linda Cui Zhang, Nordstrom’s associate fashion director, layered an embroidered dress over embellished denim.
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Susanna Lau, the fashion writer known as Susie Bubble, caught rays in clashing prints.
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Worn beneath a sheer tee, a standard blue button-up shirt looked far from ordinary.
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Hair poufs topped a tactile ensemble of pleats and feathers.
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A psychedelic look on the Chopova Lowena runway embodied the term “beautiful chaos.”
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Attire with the taste of fresh watermelon.
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An envious assemblage of greens.
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The singer Corinne Bailey Rae attended the Emilia Wickstead show in a bright top that complemented her glowy complexion.
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Green streaks of hair matched the ones on a shirt dress.
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A meeting of starred pole and striped shirt.
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A mesh frock was enlivened by circus stripes — and clowns.
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Vanessa Williams and Elton John were famous faces in the Burberry crowd.
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Eku Edewor, a British Nigerian actress and producer, and the actress Naomie Harris both sported matching sets at the Emilia Wickstead show.
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A sweatshirt that spoke volumes.
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A voluminous coat that conjured the image of being wrapped in luxurious butcher paper.
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Standing in the glamorous wreckage backstage at the Ahluwalia show.
Simbarashe Cha is a Times photographer and visual columnist documenting style and fashion around the world.
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