Skin in the Game

This season’s shows are signalling that 2026 could be the year skincare officially overtakes makeup as beauty’s primary obsession.

Backstage coverage of fashion week usually invites us into the theatre of makeup artistry. Faces are contoured and re-sculpted with bronzer and blush, eyes exaggerated with pigment and shimmer, lips stained and outlined into perfect proportions. Perhaps more than any other time, fashion week is where we witness makeup becoming a thrilling spectacle.

Backstage at AW26 however, the spectacle looked different. It appeared that brushes were outnumbered by serums; instead of face painting, the focus was on face prepping, making skin, not makeup, the main event.

Numerous fashion labels partnered with skincare brands this season, positioning complexion preparation as part of the creative direction rather than a quick preliminary step. At Johanna Parv and Selasi, Herbar took the credit for the bare-faced beauty looks that appeared on the runway. Replacing the makeup routine was a multi-step skincare ritual: ear seeds (used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as an alternative to acupuncture) applied to stimulate blood flow and reduce inflammation; drainage sculpting with Herbar’s Gua Shroom tool; layers of Mushroom Ceramide Milk Essence pressed into skin; barrier creams and masks to protect and retain hydration; a spritz of Yin Mist and swipe of lip serum to complete the dewy look.

Although makeup wasn’t completely done away with, when it was present it was markedly minimal. Jewellery atelier Completedworks partnered with 111Skin to give models a pre-treatment that would reduce uneven pigmentation, enhance glow and allow the real skin texture to shine through the barely-there makeup that was subsequently applied. A similar approach was taken by Erdem, Labrum and Simone Rocha all of whom promoted their skincare partners - SkinCeuticals, Elemis and Dr Barbara Sturm respectively - as proudly as they once would a makeup sponsor.

The resulting look parading down these runways was one of radiance and effortlessness, models’ faces catching the runway lights like, you guessed it, glass. In Johanna Parv’s show notes, we learn that the aim of this minimal beauty regime was not to chase “polish or perfection”. But to my eye, polished perfection is exactly what it served up.

Fashion’s shift toward skincare hasn’t appeared out of nowhere. The full-beat glam popularised by the Kardashians has, over the past decade, ceded ground to the clean girl aesthetic peddled by Hailey Bieber and brands like Glossier. This subsequently ushered in the era of “no-makeup makeup” and, last year, the anti-mascara movement that took over #beautytok. Even when opposing beauty trends have entered mainstream culture - cue Brat summer - the clean girl aesthetic continues, making it a rare prevailing trend in a world where trends barely last a day.

What we’re seeing unfold at AW26 is distinct from the minimalist beauty trends proliferated by influencers. The aforementioned London-based brands are hardly angling for approval stamps from the clean-girl movement, they are more innovative than that. Indeed, whilst Labrum and Simone Rocha’s recent shows were skincare-focused and minimalist in the makeup department, the beauty still had elements of the avant-garde: the former punctuated faces with gold passport stamps and the latter with multiple eyebrow piercings that stretched the full length of brows. Johanna Parv’s sculptural silhouettes and Selasi’s bold sportswear-coded garments are likewise not aligned with clean girl uniforms.

The bare skin on these runways gave the impression of an insouciance that stands in contrast to the self-disciplined clean girl. But there’s no doubt that it stems from a culture that’s altogether shifting towards more natural ideals of beauty. Pamela Anderson’s first makeup-free appearance at Paris Fashion Week in 2023 made headlines precisely because it felt radical, and ever since, celebrities have been increasingly stepping out bare-faced. It goes without saying that overwhelmingly, these celebs and models already have flawless skin, not to mention conventionally attractive features. Which raises the question: does the elevation of bare skin make beauty more democratic or more unattainable than ever?

The rise of clinical skincare might form part of the answer. Before AW26, clinical skincare had been on beauty editors’ radars who predicted it would be the biggest beauty industry trend of 2026. Clinical skincare – based on dermatological research and often developed by cosmetic surgeons – encompasses both products and procedures. Examples of popular treatments include regenerative treatments like biostimulators and peptides, as well as specialist face massages that offer long-lasting results and promise a natural alternative to facelifts.

At Erdem, celebrity facialist Hadda Akrim was enlisted to perform Express Glass Skin Sculpting Facials using SkinCeuticals - a brand founded by world-renowned dermatologist Dr Sheldon R. Pinnell - employing massage techniques that encourage lymphatic drainage and create that ‘snatched’ effect. It certainly appears to have worked, though Erdem did not wave goodbye to makeup entirely: it was kept simple, light and natural.

These treatments are undeniably revolutionising skincare but also, it would seem, nudging makeup to the sidelines. As we witness the fashion girls ditching the contour and concealer that we rely upon to chisel cheeks and blur blemishes, those treatments seem ever more attractive. But of course, they come at an extortionate cost and still do not guarantee that you’ll emerge as a siren.

Makeup has long carried a feminist paradox: dismissed as pandering to the male gaze and narrow beauty ideals, yet also embraced as creative self expression. There is liberation in not feeling pressured to wear it but there is also an accessibility, as well as joy, in it. A tube of concealer can camouflage a breakout in seconds whereas clinical skincare demands time, knowledge and, most crucially, wealth. Until fashion embraces imperfect skin and unsymmetrical faces, makeup will remain a fairy godmother to the masses.

Published on becauselondon.com

March 20, 2026

Skincare in Transit

Once confined to the bathroom, skincare has entered the public sphere - turning taxis, planes and the walk around town into opportunities for stylish self-maintenance.

An Uber driver offering a complimentary bottle of water or - gasp - a mint is enough to make me, for a fleeting moment, feel like I’ve made it. Even when handed a personal hygiene pouch on a long-haul flight, the vision of a star being granted their self-care rider surfaces, until I find myself in a claustrophobic cubicle, brushing my teeth with a thimble-sized toothpaste and backdrop of turbulence. But the message from the internet and the recent awards season is clear; it’s time to aspire to more than just fresh breath and hydration when in transit. In the borderland between departure and destination, there is work to be done on your skin.

This came to my attention last weekend, when attendees of Vanity Fair’s Oscar Awards afterparty who chose Uber Black as their ride home were presented not with premium mints but a post-party skincare kit, thanks to a partnership between luxury skincare brand 111Skin and Uber. Within this kit were two types of under-eye mask and a de-puffing face mask which promised to ‘restore, replenish and revive’ skin after a night of celebrations (drinking, smoking and, depending on the commitment to the dancefloor, sweating).

Doing skincare whilst on the move is hardly new. With tags like “plane skincare” and “skincare in the sky”, TikTok and Instagram have been saturated with images of influencers reclined in aeroplane seats, be they first-class or economy, faces lacquered in hydrating masks or smothered in SPF 50 to protect against aircon and UV-induced ageing. But in 2026, in-transit skincare is steadily being taken up a notch and not only trending among jet-setters but on solid ground too.

Part of this trend can be put down to aesthetic shifts. In recent years, skincare has repositioned itself as the founding partner of the beauty lexicon. The skin masks and Starface spot stickers that influencers can’t seem to get enough of constitute their own beauty look. To apply and wear such products - which come in varying colours and shapes - out and about is making a statement that simultaneously suggests a care-free-ness and a preoccupation with self-care. When Harry Styles posted himself wearing black under-eye patches and head-to-toe Prada to announce the release of Aperture (a single off his new album) on Instagram, it read as a “look” - and indeed inspired a number of comment pieces about men going public with their beauty/skincare rituals.

Beyond the stylistic appeal, another obvious factor in the rise of people using skincare on-the-go is the availability of products that travel well and can be applied fuss-free - whether or not they were originally marketed as such. Sheet masks, hydrogel eye patches and pimple patches are conveniently portable and do not require a sink. The results are similarly designed to be instant.

Brands, predictably, are meeting demand. Last autumn, The Ordinary introduced a line of miniature bag charm skincare: face, lip and lash serums that conveniently clip onto bags, designed for on-the-go use. Practical but also decorative. Elsewhere, numerous buzzy beauty brands like Glossier, Glow Hub and Fenty Beauty have come out with keychain lip balms, whilst designer labels including Chanel and Celine have proposed bag charms to hold your favourite fragrances - not quite skincare, but watch this space. Much like the Starface stickers, these products signal that beauty and skincare are no longer rituals confined to the bathroom.

The logic underpinning all of this is, of course, efficiency. The first to visibly embrace in-transit skincare were models, influencers and celebrities, all of whom travel frequently and are expected to look “good” regardless of how long they’ve been subjected to flight aircon or sleep deprivation. This was apparent in the mockumentary The Moment (2026), where a high-strung Charli XCX was frequently captured in the back of private cars either wearing black starface stickers or doing a speedy face cleanse. While the clock was ticking to fix a (fictitious) nosediving Brat tour, the popstar still found time to address her skin while having a breakdown in moving vehicles.

Celeb or civilian, in today’s fast-paced world, feeling time-pressured is the norm. Another universal pressure is looking good - which current beauty trends define as “natural”, “healthy” and “glowing”. Bring these elements together, along with our ongoing obsession with authenticity, and the impulse to take care of skin on-the-move makes perfect sense. The question that remains is how far it stretches; not all of us can afford Ubers - sheet masks on TFL anyone?

Article published on becauselondon.com

February 19, 2026

London’s Next Wave

Kicking off today, London Fashion Week AW26 welcomes a new wave of designers who are reimagining craftsmanship, sustainability and contemporary British style.

Home to emerging talent incubators like Fashion East and the British Fashion Council’s NEWGEN, London Fashion Week is known for platforming some of the most exciting new voices in fashion. Bagging a slot on the schedule remains no small feat, and shows are notoriously expensive to put on, but those indie labels that do break through promise to look like nothing seen before, and are likely to land at Dover Street Market, if not on the red carpet. This season, Because has its eye on a handful of nonconformist newcomers, from the accessories architect transforming shower mats into handbags to the multidisciplinary designer rupturing the definition of ‘fashion brand’.

A Letter

A Letter isn’t a complete newbie to London Fashion Week but, since making its debut last year as ALETTA, the label has undergone a rebrand and the big reveal is taking place in an exhibition over the weekend. The brand is the brainchild of Central Saint Martins alumni Freddy Coomes and Matt Empringham, both of whom trained under Jonathon Anderson and share a fanciful approach to craft. The Anderson influence was noticeable in the surrealist sensibility of their previous collection, characterised by origami-like constructions that play with perspective and proportion. Having dressed the likes of Emma Corrin and Sienna Miller, the duo already have the attention of the fashion cognoscenti who wait with bated breath to see what they’ll do next – elusive hints on A Letter’s Instagram promise it will be quirky.

GOYAGOMA

The talent incubator Fashion East plays a big part in bolstering London’s reputation as the capital of cutting-edge fashion. This year’s newcomer is GOYAGOMA, a womenswear label founded by the Bahamas-born designer Traiceline Pratt. Though Pratt came up through the Central Saint Martins pipeline, he originally studied fine art and sees himself as something of a ‘tourist’ in the fashion world which has, for him, opened up the door for a more radical approach.

At first glance, GOYAGOMA doesn’t appear particularly radical: the clothes are sleek, wearable and capsule-wardrobe appropriate, but do a double take and you’ll notice the cleverly subtle way Pratt manipulates silhouettes and materials to offer a twist on the classic – like a khaki trench with a belt that sits at thigh-height. These suave designs have already struck a chord with stylish celebs like A$AP Rocky, who sported GOYAGOMA on The Late Show, sat beside arbiter of taste Anna Wintour. It’s unsurprising that the designer worked under fashion’s most pined-after minimalist maestro, Phoebe Philo; one can only hope that after being blown away by the upcoming collection, his pricing is slightly less extortionate.

Clara Chu

Leading the charge of upcycled design this season is fashion accessories label Clara Chu. The namesake brand has been playfully engineering everyday objects into colourful bags and keychains since 2020, proving there’s a world in which silicone biscuit trays, faux-feather dusters and plastic cutlery become whimsical fashion statements. Growing up in Hong Kong, besieged by markets overflowing with mass-produced plastic and electronic goods, Chu was inspired to repurpose the mundane, the discarded and the conventionally ‘ugly’ into something beautiful and useful.

Running workshops from her studio, youth centres across London, and the Young V&A - where she has been a designer in residence - Chu not only designs to sell but to educate and inspire. Her AW26 presentation will certainly provide the novelty, neon and food for thought at this LFW.

THEVXLLEY

‘Wearable art’ is a term thrown around rather flippantly in fashion but in the case of Daniel del Valle’s Thevxlley – a project he insists is not a fashion brand but a garden - it is an accurate descriptor. The Andalucian artist is announcing his new solo project at LFW with a collection honouring the crafts he grew up around - ceramics, mosaics, glassblowing, baking and wax flower making, constructed into otherworldly pieces that are less worn than carried by their models. Titled The Narcissist, the collection is a culmination of 3 years of collaborations, introspection and multidisciplinary design and, based on what has been previewed on Valle’s Instagram, it will not be one to miss.

Steve O Smith

After winning the LVMH Award, fashion’s most prestigious prize, last year, Steve O Smith is finally getting the spotlight at London Fashion Week. Not that the designer needs it, his distinctive monochromatic pieces have been worn by A listers abound - Harry Styles, Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone and Eddie Redmayne. Another Central Saint Martins graduate, the London-based designer’s approach is simple and intuitive: he draws figures with black acrylic and graphite and then translates these into garments, using predominantly tulle to shape the silhouette and then applique techniques to mimic the bold Picasso-like strokes. The result is utterly beguiling, and with the suggestion that red will be injected into the AW26 palette, we expect to be seduced.

Article published on becauselondon.com