Amongst the shows to be watched during London Fashion Week one of the main highlights was, notably, Dilara Findikoglu’s. Once again, the Turkish designer unveiled a romantic yet haunting vision of femininity. With the title Cage of Innocence, the Spring/Summer 2026 collection explores the idea of being trapped while still fighting for freedom, with the cage symbolising the confinement women can feel. It was a mesmerising way of proving that fashion can speak for itself: moody, theatrical, and romantic, the show narrates a story from start to finish.
At Ironmonger’s Hall, transformed into a spooky haunted house, models walked with a confident strut in close-fitting corsetry, rich textures, and subversive layering. These evoked a now-forgotten image of a 19th-century woman, one that still lingers in the notion of an ever-lasting imposed femininity. The pressure is still there, but these models seemed to break free from it.
Theatricality was used to symbolise the struggle between innocence and suppression: models covered in dirt, tears running down their faces, messy hair, and disintegrating lingerie seemed to embody the fight for independence. Meanwhile, handcrafted metalwork and sheer fabrics emphasised strength and autonomy. Metal embellishments appeared as veils, but instead of concealing, they felt like an ode to feminine beauty.
The garments served to express Dilara’s vision of femininity and to narrate what it took to reach it: wild, sovereign, and unapologetically bold. It is a story of duality; the designs fuse delicate armour and soft fabrics with raw, unsettling elements, creating a visceral representation of life’s harshness and tenderness. Key pieces included an embellished dress adorned with hyper-realistic silicone cherries –a motif echoed throughout the collection, from baskets to show promotions– representing both delicacy and imposed sensuality. Elsewhere, clingy yellow latex embodied the tension between feminine softness and restrictive fetishism. The traditional constraints of corsetry were subverted to create armour, while metal pieces reinforced the image of a woman gaining strength.
Overall, Dilara Findikoglu presented a collection full of meaning and emotion, in her unmistakable style: symbolic, beautiful, and unsettling. The garments lean more towards art than commercial wear, but Cage of Innocence is a powerful, uncompromising fashion statement. It carries weight –heritage, gender politics, personal history– and uses clothes as both armour and confession. This is the kind of show that reminds us there are still forces to be reckoned with at London Fashion Week.
