Petra Fagerstrom AW26
Petra Fagerström's AW26 collection, "After Everything I Did For You", didn't just debut at London Fashion Week, it redefined how we see the powerful, complicated bond between mentor and prodigy through the lens of figure-skating nostalgia.
As someone who's covered Paris and London Fashion Weeks for nearly a decade, I've witnessed countless debut collections. But Fagerström's presentation stole my heart with its rare balance of severe discipline and undone glamour. This Swedish designer, who graduated from Central Saint Martins' MA program in 2025, draws deeply from her childhood as a competitive figure skater in Gothenburg. The collection explores the figure-skating mother figure, not as a caricature, but with genuine empathy, portraying a "mature woman who carries the memory of her glory days".
"I aimed for the collection to stem from empathy rather than vilification," Fagerström explained, despite her pointed title.
The serendipity was undeniable; Fagerström completed her collection just as Alysa Liu clinched Olympic gold with a breathtaking routine at the Winter Olympics in Milan.
Fagerström's signature lenticular pleating remains the collection's technical heart. These aren't your average pleats,some fabrics require hours of hand-stitching before being ironed into three-dimensional optical illusions that shift as you move.
"I need to see if I can make it work with my lenticular pleating," she told me while showing me her second-hand princess pleater bolted to her Smithfield Market studio worktop. The result? Garments that seem like "fragments of memory coming into focus".
Her signature "double-fronted" jackets emerged from an AI error that confused a Dior Bar jacket with an anorak, a happy accident that revealed inner structure and glamour within a winter puffer. This structural revelation continues into AW26, appearing alongside tailoring for the first time in her career.
Fagerström's work reflects an understanding of the cultural and social landscapes her wearer inhabits,both physical and digital, translating this into garments that allow women "not only to navigate uncertain times, but also to reframe them".
Her approach is deeply personal; "Fashion for me was really about creating a persona," she says. "Each collection proposes a woman with a life and inner logic; I imagine her routines and temperament with near-method intensity".
True to The Fashion Edit's mission of conscious consumerism, Fagerström produces much of her work herself in her Smithfield Market studio, maintaining authorship and reducing waste through handmade production. The use of Biofluff, a sustainable alternative to traditional faux fur made from natural fibers, demonstrates her commitment to ethical innovation without sacrificing glamour.
