Dreaming Beyond the Impossible
Review of Dilara Findikoglu Spring 2026 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Uncaged Innocence, Purity and Light, Free to Dream
Such is the undeniable force that is Dilara Findikoglu that not even an hour-long delayed start to her 9pm show could have deterred those in attendance. Judging by the queue of Findikoglu replicants outside the venue, dressed in their finest macabre iterations, the Turkish-born designers impact on the London schedule is positively growing.
Titled ‘Cage of Innocence’ this collection was an emancipation of sorts for the designers old wounds (and as the notes put it ‘ancestral pain’), this also happened to be the name of an all black look – perhaps representing the dark memories held there. Backstage, her model board told the all to familiar story of womens journeys from past trauma through to a place of healing. Looks were named ‘scars’, ‘storm in my veins’, ‘run far away’ ‘searching for me’, ‘reconnection’ and finally ‘unchained’, ‘rapture’, to ‘stable CEO’.
Such was the power in her storytelling, the cast of models could have stood presentation-style with their look titles in order of dark (times, when women lacked the freedom to dream) to light (the opening looks allowed for ‘softness, sweetness and lightness’ toughened by delicate armour to reimagine ‘free bodies and minds’) and we would have understood the shows theme no less emotively, but the designer is making a name for herself with her theatrical staging that continued on for her spring 2026 show.
Taking place in the hallowed halls of the Ironmongers hall, purposely darkened and sans the standard megawatt lighting synonymous with runways, an atmospheric sense of foreboding was created in anticipation of what was to come and according to today’s notes an acknowledgement of how it may have been the setting where men plotted to restrict the dreams of women throughout the centuries “So many centuries have passed in this bare-walled room. So many generations have lived out their days here, never even knowing that dreaming beyond it was possible”. When the show finally got underway, those stone-floored halls reminiscent of a Dickensian setting came alive with the designers (albeit noticeably thin) models who stalked the panelled walls as if broken bodied searching for solace in each room entered.
Giving a voice to the voiceless women who were silenced across time is both an urgent and personal mission for the designer, and for spring she chose – as the notes revealed – a temple of virtue erected to preserve innocence, so it would remain “untainted by worldly stains. Yet, always seeking to illicit debate, division and desire there was an upending of that line of hypocrisy as looks were deliberately smashed, stained and smeared with cherries – no doubt a tongue-in-cheek reference and two fingers up to the idea of preserving ones virginity.
In the same way certain brands (often those showing on the New York schedule and appealing to the Upper West Side elite) are touted as made for the ‘Thinking Woman’, Findikoglu too is for those intellectually advanced enough to not simply dismiss what she does as ‘just ultra-sexy clothes’. Because it takes a woman with balls to pull off an equestrian-themed laser-cut, leather ensemble inspired by a horses bridle, complete with a full horses tail and blinkers that served as modesty panels. Especially when it’s original use was a symbol of control, but here the designer subverted that premise. Subversion and the shattering of puritanical ideals through the ripping and refashioning of lace, leather, and latex free ‘unexplored desires’ while allowing the multi-faceted Dilara woman the space to exist in an uncaged state of vulnerability and strength.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
Breaking the lock on history’s cage of innocence, we give voice to the memories and experiences of women past and present.’
–Dilara Findikoglu, Creative Director
THE WRAP UP
Dilara Findikoglu’s designs can often be misinterpreted and misunderstood, but at their foundation she is seeking to emancipate women – past and present – from oppressive historical infrastructures and set them free. Bringing her dreams to life for those who were never afforded the luxury, Findikoglu creates fiercely independent collections for women unafraid to ‘speak, think, act and wear whatever [their] boldest visions beckon [them] to.
