Here's What Went Down At Shanghai Fashion Week FW26
From Samuel Gui Yang’s I Ching inspired collection to Jacques Wei’s DAPHNE collaboration, these are the SHFW collections that you need on your radar.
Just when you think the “Big Four” Fall/Winter 2026 fashion weeks are over, Shanghai Fashion Week comes knocking. Its blindingly unique format makes way for a level of craftsmanship, resource and attitude that sets it apart from the rest of the global fashion calendar.
There’s a few things to know about the way this circuit operates. The first is that Shanghai Fashion Week (SHFW) is the overarching, official event, while Labelhood is a specialized incubator operating within SHFW to promote additional, emerging Chinese designers. Labelhood continues to act as the primary platform for the avant-garde with a lineup featuring the draped silhouettes of Oude Waag alongside fan favorites SHUSHU/TONG and Mark Gong. Adjacent to the official schedule, there is also TUBE and Not Showroom where an impressive roster of emerging talent are on display to connect with.
An interesting detail about the schedule is that there is always two shows per brand, one for the industry guests and a second that’s open to the public directly afterwards. This level of accessibility? It drives serious hype. Additionally, most of the runway shows have some level of performance included, like Yang Kehan, the creative director of the eponymous fashion brand YANGKEHAN, who sang at her own show.
A sizeable majority of the big names on the calendar actually studied at London-based universities like CSM and LCF, before returning to Shanghai to launch their own brands. This cohort arrived back to Shanghai in a similar time period meaning that many designers, including Feng Chen Wang, are celebrating decade-long milestones, and building strong momentum towards future proofing approaches.
Elsewhere, the high-tech prowess of the city lives vibrantly in the designers’ innovations, such as Susan Fang‘s 3D printed shoes made in collaboration with Bambu Labs and JARELZHANG’s sci-fi inspired concepts.
The international presence in Shanghai reached fever pitch this season with a surprise newcomer. Maison Margiela showed for the first time outside of France on the last day of Shanghai Fashion Week, driving even more buzz to an already incredibly worthy and impressive week. This showcase was accompanied by an extensive “Art of Creation” exhibition which will continue with three more cities in China over the course of the month.
Keep reading to explore our highlights from the Shanghai Fashion Week FW26 season.
While you’re here, check out our debrief on Paris Fashion Week.
GARÇON BY GARÇON
GARÇON BY GARÇON took to the fields for FW26, with a collection packed with patchwork prints, Americana collared shirts and lace-trimmed skirts. Walking on a runway of hay, models wore gold-feathered headwear and gold-finished footwear. “Center of Heaven and Earth” was stamped onto hoodies and long sleeve T-shirts, seemingly a nod to the selflessness of the natural world. To drive this concept even further, guests received baskets of fresh vegetables as a show gift while corn and leaf graphic prints sprawled throughout the collection.
Jacques Wei
“It’s never rare to see something beautiful,” Jacques Wei said backstage at his FW26 showcase. “I’m more interested in seeing something weird.” Titled “No Ordinary Love,” his most recent collection trades soft sentimentality for “brutal sophistication.” Wei notes that the work reflects his current personal outlook, not necessarily needing a complicated concept. He is simply creating garments that he love for the women that he admires. This complex woman navigates a landscape of animal-printed outerwear and ’80s and ’90s-inspired silhouettes.
Texture play defines the range, utilizing leather against smooth fabrics alongside colorful tights and bubble skirts. While the focus remains on the female spirit, a hint of unisex appeal emerges through a small selection of menswear suiting. Finally, the DAPHNE footwear collaboration introduces a soft sneaker, offering a more everyday style twist to the garments.
8ON8
Gong Li’s 8ON8 FW26 looked to snails for inspiration — paying homage to the creature’s slow pace and consumption. Snail references ran wild: in the waved hats that sat pointed on models’ heads, and in voluminous vests that took shape as a snail’s body. They were even seen crawling up the set design as well as into models’ hair. Elsewhere, trousers, specifically denim, were cut with oversized cuffs, à la Y/Project‘s cowboy denim. For outerwear, cropped capes were placed over classic trench coats and soft bomber jackets were styled over a single shoulder. Standouts from the collection include a double duffle bag and two new collaborative sneakers with ASICS.
YIRANTIAN
YIRANTIAN struck “Her Note” for FW26. The collection, like many collections do, explored the dual facets of womanhood, but for the Shanghai-based brand specific archetypes were crystal clear. For example, in studying the working woman, she explores sharp, broad shoulders meet extremely cinched waists. This intersection of forms outlines the complex nature of the modern woman, further emphasized by irregular patchwork that deconstructs soft fabrics to find order within disorder. For accessories, YIRANTIAN collaborated with SOFT PEOPLE AREA.
JARELZHANG
JARELZHANG is slowly becoming a favorite on the calendar. Why? The level of storytelling. Off the back of a Milan Fashion Week presentation, the designer returned to the Shanghai with the same reality warping energy. In his FW26 vision, future humans will come to the present and rediscover today’s office. The collection, named “Verdant Intrusion” imagines a moment when “a lush, unfamiliar plant life force enters a controlled human environment and surfaces designed for efficiency are slowly overtaken by organic expansion.” As for clothing, this means color at high volume, botanical references and a heavy helping of exaggerated outerwear.
Samuel Gui Yang
Samuel Gui Yang leaned heavy into the ethereal for FW26 with a collection titled “Dream Forward: Xin Jian.” The range acts as a visual dialogue between the inner psyche and the physical world. Drawing heavily from Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity and ancient texts like the I Ching, the brand moves beyond mere garment construction to explore what happens when space and time stop following linear rules.
The runway experience was tucked away in the narrow alleyways of Shanghai, where the House of Attila was rebuilt as a dreamlike sanctuary. In a nod to the brand’s signature design language, the Xiang Top and Skirt feature non-standard knotting techniques that wrap freely around the body. For a cleaner look, the Alba Shirt and Ti Trousers appear in full cream-white, intended to represent the “blank space” of one’s consciousness.
XU ZHI
XU ZHI looked to the poetic rebellion of the past for FW26 with a collection titled “Howl”. Inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s seminal poem, the range explores a longing for shared human connection and “Eternity” in a fractured world. By channeling the creative energies of the late 1960s and 1970s, the show opened with military-inspired coats featuring metallic accents, leopard prints, and leather meant to signal the pressures of the Cold War era. Toward the finale, the silhouettes shifted into iridescent satin tones of brown, navy and burgundy, serving as a tribute to the “Make Love, Not War” philosophy championed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
