Martine Rose SS26: Where Masculinity Meets Market Day

Martine Rose's Spring/Summer 2026 collection marks a notable return to her London roots. In response to the British Fashion Council’s decision to withhold their annual June shows this year, the BFC New Gen alumna took matters into her own hands - staging a self-orchestrated showcase. 

Held in a disused job centre in Lisson Grove, London, this event not only featured her first runway show in two years, but also a weekend-long market aimed to exhibit 'London's real influencers'. 

With a similar focus to her Autumn/Winter 25 collection, which drew inspiration from the nostalgia of secondhand markets, this show has continued to spotlight London’s subcultures. Rose’s focus is once again to highlight the city’s overlooked communities, using her work to tell their stories and help amplify their voices. 

Each market stall was carefully selected to represent the often unsung 'fabric' of London’s sub-cultures; from rave and punk to the Afro-Caribbean barbershop. The weekend aimed to shed light on the people that help shape the city life, and to divert attention away from the algorithm of today’s hype of internet’s influencers. “In the age of the obvious, we lust for the unseen”, Rose wrote as her opening line for her show notes.

Upstairs from the market, Martine held her anticipated Spring/Summer 26 runway show. The set design, intended to look like a faux salon, featured the sorts of wooden chairs that you could find in a British home. This lean to home decor helped to establish a more domestic and familiar space. Walls and columns were adorned with ruffles draped in pale and silky tones, creating a theatrical ambience. The lived-in realism set a palpable sense of authenticity to the scene. 

By creating a more intimate space, the show felt less like an exclusive spectacle and more like a shared, home-viewing experience. Martine Rose critiques the idea of fashion performance as passive consumption, instead repositioning it as something rooted in connection and cultural context. She invites the audience into a more immersive, personal encounter—disrupting the typical one-way relationship between viewer and runway. Additionally, there were no traditional models occupying this runway. Instead, a focus on a caricature catapulted into an intimate, personal and slightly awkward narrative.

For this Spring/Summer 26 collection, Rose also took inspiration from vintage adult magazines. The theme, represented by the sultry body-conscious cinched waist blazers, lace-trim satin boxers and hosiery, summon thoughts of a pin-up shoot or an underwear ad. All of these features contribute to a well-executed project which combines the monotonous with the provocative. Amongst this, Rose pulled shrunken versions of outerwear staples, trench coats, leather blazers and a textural translucent rain-mac.

At its core, this was a collection about blurring binaries which was starkly seen through the use of the boxer shorts; a widely considered masculine piece. A staple of everyday male underwear, brought to become more delicate and feminine through the adornment of lace. These design choices acted to successfully subvert expectations and reinterpret the familiar. Rose uncovers the fragility and performance embedded in everyday masculinity. 

The shows' accessories featured bags overlaid with T-shirts and scarves, all emblazoned with classified personal ads sourced from nostalgic vintage adult magazines. Among this, unconventional style pairings flooded the runway: a suit jacket over frayed denim shorts; long, delicate gloves, reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour, were styled with rugged, casual pieces like a printed denim jacket. On the feet, we saw the iconic Martine Rose x Nike squared-toe slip-on mules. 

The infusion of mismatched elements may appear accidental, but the collection effectively encapsulates the spirit of London’s artistic community, which continually inspires Rose’s work. 

The show didn’t just present clothes, it constructed a world where masculinity is intertwined with softness, performance is intimate, and subculture is sacred. By leaning toward the lived-in and the familiar, away from the spectacle, Martine Rose invites us not just to watch but to also question the paradigm we use to identify, desire and style.

Words by Caitlin Davidson @caitlindavidsxn