London Fashion Week kicks off today with an impressive 107 brands on the schedule to showcase their designs for the autumn/winter 2024 season. And big congratulations are in order: not only is the event jam-packed with new and well-established talent, but London Fashion Week is now 40 years old. So, Team Stylist took a walk down memory lane to remember the standout moments that have made London Fashion Week such a standout event both in and outside of the industry.

First launched in 1984, when the UK fashion scene looked a lot different than it does today, the initial London Fashion Week featured only a handful of mid-market collections and small exhibitions with young designers at the forefront. These young designers included now-household names such as John Galliano and high street store Ghost and, just as the event does today, London Fashion Week acted as a launchpad for fresh fashion talent to stand in front of buyers and press. Two years later, the shows were so successful that both Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher were in attendance.

Today, London Fashion Week is seen as one of the big four, joining New York, Milan and Paris, attracting attention from across the globe. So, we sat down to recall some of our favourite moments, with Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood and The Queen taking leading roles. 

While our memory of the first London Fashion Week is pretty hazy, we’ve dug through the archives of some of the first shows to find this image of John Galliano’s debut Central Saint Martins collection. Heralded in fashion history as a key memorable moment, Galliano’s Les Incroyables is said to have come from an amalgamation of furniture fabrics, magnifying glasses and a small handful of friends roped in to walk the runway. Clearly, it was a resounding success and started the designer’s lucrative career working for Christian Dior, Givenchy and now Maison Margiela, proving the power of a fantastic London Fashion Week show.

In 1993, the British Fashion Council launched its now famous New Generation (now BFC NEWGEN) programme, with the aim of supporting young talent. Included in this initial wave was Alexander McQueen, who went on to become one of the most influential British fashion designers in history. While we could list off a handful of memorable McQueen moments from past London Fashion Weeks, it was the spring/ summer 1999 collection that stands out to us the most noteworthy. Most known as the season robots spray-painted Shalom Harlow’s white dress, the show is still talked about to this day as being a core fashion week highlight. 

Despite London Fashion Week now being known as a hub for high-end designer labels, Topshop joined the schedule in 2005. Representing the British high street, the brand stepped out to show its Topshop Unique collection, which saw resounding success. Shortly after its debut, the brand became one of the most highly anticipated events on schedule with models including Cara Delevingne, Jourdan Dunn and Lily Donaldson all walking the runway. 

Despite being a British heritage brand, Burberry didn’t show at London Fashion Week until 2009, previously picking Milan as its fashion capital of choice. Sending a whole host of trench coats down the spring/summer 2010 runway in front of a star-studded crowd, including Sarah-Jessica Parker, Emma Watson and Alexa Chung, the show garnered a lot of attention. Since then, the luxury label has been a London Fashion Week regular, also showing on this season’s schedule. 

While London Fashion Week welcomes many a famous face, 2018 marked a historical moment as Her Majesty The Queen sat front row for the Richard Quinn show. Presenting the NEWGEN designed with the inaugural Queen Elizabeth II award after showcasing his autumn/winter 2018 collection, the moment created a media frenzy and was one of our favourite fashion week experiences to date. 

Images: Getty; courtesy of brands