FWTC Designer Spotlight brought eight international fashion voices to London

Fashion Week and the City (FWTC) presented its Designer Spotlight at St John’s Church, Hyde Park Crescent, on 17 September 2026, bringing together eight fashion brands and designers from South Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The London showcase centred on identity, craftsmanship and contemporary design, with each participant presenting a distinct approach to heritage, materials and personal expression. Rather than following a single aesthetic, the programme moved between silk essentials, batik, mirror work, equestrian tailoring, couture embellishment and experimental textiles.

Be Me places everyday identity at the centre

Priyankaa Bajaj introduced Be Me, a lifestyle concept built around comfort, confidence and personal freedom.

The project is designed around clothing and everyday essentials intended to move across different parts of daily life, including work, travel, rest and movement. Its central idea is that clothing should support individuality rather than require the wearer to fit within a fixed category.

Eighth Hour builds a permanent silk wardrobe

Founded by Vasanthi Kris, Eighth Hour presented Essentials, a permanent collection comprising 33 silk styles.

The range spans dresses, blouses, skirts, jackets, coats, trousers and shirts. Subtle fabric manipulation and ease of wear shape the collection, with the pieces designed to move through different moments of the day rather than operate around a conventional seasonal cycle.

Mahimant reworks inherited craft

Mahimant by Manshi Shankarbhai Bhanushali presented VIRASAT, a collection focused on the relationship between heritage and contemporary fashion.

Hand-tie techniques and intricate mirror work form the central decorative language, translating inherited craft into a modern visual context.

The project places traditional techniques within contemporary styling rather than treating them purely as historical references.

Ispahan by MB combines couture and textile heritage

Pakistani contemporary luxury label Ispahan by MB, founded by Maryam Babar, presented a couture look built around contrast.

A hand-embellished rose-gold lamé silk bomber was combined with Banarasi silk, placing a traditional textile within a distinctly modern silhouette.

The result connected ornate surface work with contemporary outerwear, showing how familiar materials can take on a new character through proportion and styling.

Maison Stylistica presents the Tree of Life

Maison Stylistica, founded by Dr Sabah, presented the Tree of Life ensemble.

The hand-embroidered look follows a visual journey through water, land and sky, using detailed craftsmanship to connect natural references across the garment.

A sculptural handbag by Ali Fateh completed the presentation, extending the concept beyond clothing into accessory design.

NRoyce draws on equestrian heritage

Founded by Spiryae Nadezhda, NRoyce approached heritage from a different direction, looking to equestrian and jockey culture.

The brand translated these references into contemporary tailoring through refined suiting, eco-leather and hand embroidery.

Rather than reproducing traditional riding dress directly, the collection used its codes as a starting point for a more modern wardrobe.

Label WDIF brings batik into contemporary tailoring

Manya Manuja presented the debut look for Label WDIF, placing batik at the centre of the design.

The traditional resist-dye technique appeared across a combination of corsetry, denim tailoring and shorts. By bringing batik into a contemporary silhouette, the look connected established craft with more current fashion forms.

DLOSTGEN explores reality and imagination

Aisha Patel’s DLOSTGEN presented A Dream Within a Dream, one of the more experimental contributions to the showcase.

Burnt organza, distressed surfaces, layered fabrics and distorted proportions were used to examine the boundary between reality and imagination.

The material treatment gave the collection a deliberately unstable quality, using texture and form to create a sense of visual uncertainty.

FWTC continues its international programme

Fashion Week and the City operates across London, New York and Paris, producing programmes for both emerging and established designers.

According to the organisation, it has showcased more than 300 designers, worked with over 100 industry partners and generated more than 200 media features across its programmes.

For the London Designer Spotlight, that international focus was reflected through eight distinct approaches to fashion. Traditional craft sat alongside experimental construction, couture techniques and contemporary tailoring, creating a showcase built around different interpretations of heritage, identity and modern design.