Marques’Almeida’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection at London Fashion Week unfolded less like a spectacle and more like a diary, deeply personal yet fully attuned to the cultural moment. Since relocating from London to Porto during the pandemic, Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida have been quietly rethinking the essence of their brand. This season felt like their most instinctive, color-saturated expression to date.

The runway was bathed in hues that echoed an Atlantic sunset: buttery pastels, blush ruffles, powdery indigo bustiers. The show began with dragging denim and elongated silhouettes, gradually softening into frothy organza, shirting scrawled with floral sketches, and celebratory dresses that seemed to billow with optimism. This deliberate progression mirrored what Marques herself called the brand’s “growing pains” — a shedding of heaviness in favor of fluidity and instinctive draping.

Signature deconstructed denim and shirting re-emerged with newfound playfulness. Boyfriend jeans arrived in pastel washes, or, in Marques’s words, an “elevated energy of pastel”, while hand-drawn botanical prints gave shirts a tender, human touch. A collaboration with Dylon Detergent underscored their ethos: clothing is meant to live, fade, and evolve with its wearer rather than be discarded.

The brand’s sense of community remained palpable. Mothers, daughters, and friends walked together, extending a tradition of family casting nearly a decade old. The intergenerational spirit was echoed by Rochelle Humes, seated front row with her daughter, a reminder of how Marques’Almeida clothes weave bonds as much as they do wardrobes.

Though some silhouettes and raw-hem denim staples edged toward repetition, the emotional resonance was undeniable. The duo, once known for shredded denim rebellion, have matured into designers who channel joy, resilience, and intimacy without losing their edge.

Spring/Summer 2026 felt like an ode to Porto’s light, a manifesto for garments that hold memory, age with grace, and transform alongside the people who wear them.