Shard day’s night: Julien Macdonald reaches for the sky at London fashion week

Three years after he was forced to put his company into administration, Julien Macdonald, the man Beyoncé calls Tina Sparkle, made his triumphant return to London fashion week.

There were the requisite martinis on the door and a steady stream of sequins and Swarovski crystals, while Welsh showbiz royalty Katherine Jenkins and singer Ella Eyre propped up the front row. Nineties supermodel Debra Shaw closed the show.

The collection was inspired by London’s Shard skyscraper, interpreted in a series of body-skimming dresses destined for red carpets thrilled by the promise of more nearly naked dressing.

Helpfully, the Qatari royal family, which owns the skyscraper, sponsored the show, which was held in the building, with guests whisked via a disco lift up to the 68th floor.

Macdonald’s return marks part of a broader attempt to turn around the beleaguered UK fashion industry, which is still stumbling post-Brexit and post-pandemic. Laura Weir, CEO of the British Fashion Council (BFC), underlined that statement of intent with a long-planned appearance from King Charles on Thursday. The king met designers in a new showcase space and joined the front row at rising star Tolu Coker’s show alongside Stella McCartney; Seán McGirr, ­creative director of Alexander McQueen; Anya Hindmarch; and Clare Waight Keller, creative director of Uniqlo and newly appointed to the BFC executive board.

Participation in London fashion week – which contributes £68bn to the UK economy and supports more than 1.4 million jobs, according to the BFC – is up 21% from last February. In her opening remarks, Weir stated that her new strategy would seek to “put designers first”.

London fashion week has long existed as the plucky underdog without the glossy conglomerate heft of Milan and Paris, and lacking the hard commerciality of New York. While there’s creativity in spades, that skill has long hovered on a knife edge of financial dire straits. In recent years it has also lacked a headline-grabbing, full-throttle dose of glamour against the more earnest, quiet turns from emerging talent.

Speaking before the show, Macdonald said: “Fashion week has been a bit sad in the past. It needs a bit of fire, excitement and attention. London needs to get back on the map as a fashion capital.” The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant is aiming to do just that.

The 54-year-old Welsh designer’s business was a casualty of the Debenhams collapse, where his Star by Julien Macdonald spinoff kept his couture business afloat for 17 years. His new business plan revolves around luxury ready-to-wear for the kind of women who preen and pose by five-star hotel pools in one of his sequin-drenched swimsuits which will never be troubled by water.

The Merthyr Tydfil-raised designer is a lone survivor from the heady 90s and noughties period when British design talent was feted. Macdonald is, perhaps snobbishly, an overlooked footnote in the pantheon of British designers who have helmed Parisian houses.

He was plucked from doing an MA at the Royal College of Art by Karl Lagerfeld, who was enraptured by the intricately hand-knitted pieces created in his Finsbury Park bedroom from Victorian vintage lace he found at Portobello market. Lagerfeld installed him as head of knitwear at Chanel. “I spent three and a half years with Karl – he taught me everything I know today,” he says.

He also worked with McQueen on his first few collections, remembering: “I designed the knitwear for his three collections. Lee was a genius.” He later followed McQueen as creative director of Givenchy, where he stuck out three years before returning to London and his own brand.

High-impact celebrity moments have long been Macdonald’s stock in trade. In 2002 he designed Paris Hilton’s 21st-birthday dress, bookmarked by TikTok as key for the Y2K era, and one which he has referenced again in his new collection. He’s also spangled Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez and Kylie, and is hoping the show will spark interest from a new generation. Sabrina Carpenter has apparently been in touch.

“I’m still waiting for my royal moment,” Macdonald says. “I’ve got my OBE I’d love to dress Kate or Camilla. I could even do a pinstripe crystal suit for Charles.”

Tolu Coker

A finalist of the prestigious LVMH prize, Coker was London fashion week’s royal opening act, with King Charles on the front row. The British-Nigerian designer has a unique take on tailoring fused with her personal cultural references. A new collaboration with Topshop will launch in March.

Conner Ives

The American Central Saint Martins graduate found viral traction last year with the release of his trans-charity-supporting Protect the Dolls T-shirt. In 2025 he won the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion fund, which gave his deadstock- and recycled-fabric-focused label a healthy £150k injection.

Karoline Vitto

Brazilian-born Vitto creates for the feminine figure in all its undulations – her striking, sculptural jersey pieces curve seductively around the body. Her new show, entitled Thaw, directly addresses the current rollback in fashion of body diversity with its inclusive catwalk castings.

Photographs by Dave Benett/Getty Images, Aaron Chown/PA Wire, Dave Benett/Getty Images for ELLE UK, John Phillips/Getty Images