Yuhan AO: What the Hands Remember | AW26

There was a special moment at the end of Yuhan AO’s What the Hands Remember runway show. As models sat down at an Abramovic meets Emin table, lines between beginning and end were blurred. It wasn’t clear when the show exactly finished, and as a sea of photographers and viewers crowded around the centrepiece, it seemed as though a timeless picture had been crafted.

This is only Yuhan AO’s second runway show, but already his universe has been meticulously crafted. It’s a darker take on the Belle Époque: Edwardian silhouettes meet exposed seams as a world similar to that of Galliano’s later work for Margiela becomes fully realised. As with his last show – there’s clear inspiration taken from the house’s infamous 2024 Artisanal Show – and although AO carefully toys the line between tribute and facsimile – it doesn’t appear reductive.

Further inspiration is extracted from a scene of AO’s grandmother, intricately spinning hemp thread in rural China – with a central concept exploring how labour can become ritual, and in turn – human. Raised in a linen factory, perhaps no-one is better suited to tell this story than AO – and through grand collars and exaggerated 1920s staples – he tells it with style.

By all accounts Yuhan AO is still a newcomer to London Fashion Week, but he’s already embraced London’s most important customs: the show was an hour late and naturally there was a long queue! But with a show as dynamic as the one presented in the early hours of fashion week’s final day, such trivialities don’t really matter.