Last night, Art Hearts Fashion brought a richly layered showcase to London Fashion Week, reaffirming its reputation for merging high fashion, art, and cultural storytelling. The AW26 presentation moved fluidly between couture fantasy, gender exploration, and maximalist joy, offering a runway that felt expressive, international, and emotionally resonant.

The show opened with GLAUDI by Johana Hernandez, setting an immediate tone of drama and romance. Wedding gowns floated down the runway to Charli XCX’s Everything Is Romantic, as featured in Emerald Fennell’s recent Wuthering Heights film adaptation. The effect was cinematic and reverent, before the mood shifted sharply. As RAYE’s WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! filled the room, the collection turned playful and contemporary. A knitted “Bride” jumper and pastel-toned bridesmaid dresses followed, pieces that felt equally suited to a modern ceremony or the imagined set of Princess Diaries 3. It was bridal through a pop-cultural lens, balancing tradition with irreverence.

Joy and colour took over with Idol José, the Venezuelan label founded by doctors Idolfredo Hernández and Juan Francisco Cabello. Known as the fashion doctors, the duo delivered a collection bursting with bright hues, sequins, and a kid-core aesthetic grounded by more grown-up silhouettes. Set to chaotic electronic music, the looks felt intentionally exuberant. Dopamine dressing was the message, and maximalism its vehicle, celebrating individuality and emotional expression without restraint.

One of the evening’s most quietly striking moments came from Will Franco. A design split between soft pink and violet moved down the runway with an airy lightness, its iridescent sheen catching the light as if from another world. The piece felt ethereal and transportive, offering a pause in the pace of the show that lingered long after it passed.

Merlin Castell continued the exploration of expression and form with a collection that leaned into gender fluidity. Menswear featured bows, corsetry, and bold zebra stripes, blending traditionally coded elements into silhouettes that felt both deliberate and subversive. Castell’s architectural tailoring grounded the looks, allowing experimentation without losing structure or authority.

Closing the showcase was Giannina Azar, whose Renaissance-inspired gowns felt closer to art than clothing. Lace, draping, and brocade embroidery created rich haute couture textures, pieces that would feel entirely at home on the Met Gala steps. The collection struck a particular chord with the My Goddess Complex team, whose digital magazine draws inspiration from Michelangelo’s Venus. Azar’s gowns echoed that same reverence for the divine feminine, transforming the runway into something almost sacred.

Art Hearts Fashion AW26 proved once again that London Fashion Week remains a fertile ground for global voices and bold visions. From bridal reinvention to maximalist colour, from ethereal fantasy to gender-fluid tailoring, the showcase celebrated fashion as a form of storytelling that transcends borders, trends, and expectations.