APUJAN SS26 | London Fashion Week report — The Extraordinary Voyage of Captain Peach
As part of London Fashion Week, APUJAN SS26 debuted The Extraordinary Voyage of Captain Peach on 21 September 2025 at 8 Northumberland Avenue, continuing the label’s reputation for literature-rich storytelling on the runway. Returning decisively to the catwalk after exploring virtual and hybrid formats, APUJAN staged a cinematic, poetic narrative that fused fantasy, social commentary and contemporary craft.
Inspired by the Japanese folktale Momotaro, the show reimagined a peach-born hero’s demon-fighting quest as a metaphor for modern life. The production unfolded like romantic rebellion: stylised demon masks evoked the “ogres” of our age, while props and accessories guided the audience through a dream state where courage, identity and imagination read as quiet acts of resistance. A cross-disciplinary live set by Taiwanese musician Nichiharu Hibito (DJ so lonely) deconstructed the Momotaro melody into a nostalgic yet forward-looking soundscape.
On the runway, 33 key looks (from a development of 100+ pieces) advanced the house codes: flowing printed chiffon dresses, lightweight summer knits, intricate custom jacquards, structured technical sportswear and sculptural formalwear, including menswear. All jacquard fabrics were uniquely developed with partner mills, embedding “coded” details—handwritten letters printed into cloth, “read receipt” timestamps embroidered on sleeves, historic Go records from Taiwanese pro Hei Jia-Jia, and visual retellings of Momotaro’s birth. Ghost motifs—large and small—materialised as symbols of social-media anxiety and self-doubt, while fragments of East Asian campus life (a fallen second button, pinned schoolbags, love letters) threaded intimate romance through the collection.
Footwear collaborations with NIKE (Ava Rover, Air Superfly, Air Max Muse) matched the show’s language of motion and myth. Literary “Easter eggs” appeared on stage via recommended reads—Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon—widening the brand’s perennial dialogue between clothing and text. With press, cultural guests and Asia-UK media in attendance, APUJAN SS26 read less like a seasonal drop and more like a fabric-bound archive of memory, identity and gentle revolution.
