Arab News | Yasmin Sewell on hand as Roksanda unveils new line in London

DUBAI: Designer label Roksanda showcased its latest collection at London Fashion Week, with Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur Yasmin Sewell sitting front row.

Sewell, who founded wellbeing brand Vyrao, took in a typically colorful new collection by creative head Roksanda Ilincic, who presented her Spring/Summer 2027 collection at London’s National Theatre.

The multi-hyphenate is known for helming high-end fashion store Browns in the noughties, reinventing iconic British department store Liberty through her namesake company, and is a former British Fashion Council adviser, British Fashion Awards judge, and former vice president of style and creative for Farfetch.

“I’ve been to 20 years of (Roksanda) shows and I think this was the best one. Goosebumps,” Sewell took to Instagram to write after the runway presentation.

The collection drew inspiration from the work of Swiss-American textile artist Francoise Grossen, whose monumental sculptures use knotted and braided rope. Ilincic translated the technique into clothing through braided details, trailing threads and tactile textures, including a brown silk gown with a tightly braided back and evening dresses framed with looser braids. Stripes, fringe and bold color combinations also featured prominently.

The collection also featured versatile daywear, with safari jackets, shirtdresses, tailoring and everyday separates appearing alongside dramatic eveningwear. The show was staged against the National Theatre’s Brutalist architecture, with the setting providing a contrast to the collection’s vibrant palette and flowing textures.

Ilincic visited the Gulf in late 2025 with pit stops in Dubai and Riyadh to show off her Spring/Summer 2026 collection, which was partly inspired by British artist and sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth, who is known for her modernist work and her method of piercing blocks.

Having dressed the likes of Catherine Middleton, Michelle Obama, Blake Lively, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway, the designer’s creations have also been flaunted in the Middle East, with Saudi-born Jordanian royal Princess Rajwa Al-Hussein showing off a canary yellow look by Roksanda in 2023.

“I have to consider that those women are really under a magnifying glass … everything needs to be not just perfect, but also needs to last,” she said of dressing high-profile women.

The London-based, Serbian-born designer has also lauded her clients in the Gulf, where she said “women … love to experiment with fashion. I think they’re very, very passionate about fashion.

“They love to show off their personalities, but at the same time, they appreciate the art and craft behind it,” she said of her customers in the region.