Maximilian Raynor’s FW26: A Journey Through Heartbreak

Post Me Your Last Kiss

At London Fashion Week, Maximilian Raynor presented his FW26 collection, Post Me Your Last Kiss, at One Hundred Shoreditch which centred on the vulnerable process of romantic loss. Rather than treating heartbreak as a spectacle, the collection explored its transformative power.

The 27-year-old London-based designer has become known for his focus on sustainable practices and a character-led approach to design. Not only did the Central Saint Martins MA graduate present his collection as part of the official LFW FW24 schedule, but he has also attracted well-known names, such as Lady Gaga. His dedication to material consciousness and narrative-building remains central to his practice. In this collection, those values stood out especially as he transformed his personal experience into a spatial study of love, grief, and renewal.

That emotional sensitivity is mirrored in Maximilian Raynor’s material philosophy. Circularity and sustainability sit at the brand’s core through a focus on reducing waste and upcycling. As a lifelong vegetarian, Raynor’s compassion extends beyond animals to the environmental impact of his work. He believes sustainability defines the future of design, yet resists leaning into greenwashing. Rather than adopting an idealised vision of sustainable fashion, he approaches design with pragmatic awareness. He acknowledges that creation inevitably generates waste. Yet, for Raynor, the question becomes how discarded material can be reimagined, rather than abandoned.

That forward-thinking mindset extends beyond fabric. For LFW FW26, Maximilian Raynor partnered with IoDF Platform on a limited-edition cap embedded with digital access, allowing the piece to unlock entry to the brand’s after-party and future brand experiences. The collaboration suggested that digital identity can be more than a requirement, becoming part of how a community is built around a brand.

If sustainability forms the foundation of his work, storytelling shapes its surface. Raynor’s approach to design is unconventional, often incorporating unexpected materials to fully realise a character. In the Personification of Internet Herself, Raynor created a character emerging from piles of wire, half-robot, half-woman. The project relied on repurposed and unconventional materials, including Equinix wires, to construct this hybrid figure.

In this FW26 collection, that commitment to character-building turned inward. Inspired by a challenging year, Raynor sought to channel the rawness of his heartbreak into his work. Every detail felt considered, building the story look by look. Symbolism expanded beyond the garments into the set design and the collection’s chronological progression.

At the centre of the runway stood a metal box, resembling a web of strings attached to love letters suspended mid-air. Inside, a black chair and a small red table held broken martini glasses atop love letters, hinting at the aftermath of a confrontation and evoking the mental loop of unresolved questions. As the models stopped there, it illustrated how heartbreak can become all-consuming – a visual metaphor for overthinking and the endless search for where it all went wrong.

The narrative opened with a delivery: styled as a DHL messenger, she carried a Gola sports bag packed with letters, the final one among them. Designed in brown and blue plaid, the look merged exaggerated shoulders with a long trailing skirt. The collision echoed Shoreditch’s layered identity, where historical dress codes meet contemporary streetwear.

The second look was the letter itself – a long, brown, crinkled material with drawstring detailing, the kind an old package would be wrapped in. The geometrical silhouette mimicked the folds of packaging, structured yet slightly collapsed. Soon after, the letter was crumpled and shredded. The third look embodied it with a skirt made of shredded, tassel-like strips in the same beige tone, suggesting something torn apart.

The collection then shifted into a phase of emotional processing. The following looks continued the plaid motif and exaggerated silhouettes, their slight distortion held in tension by sharp tailoring. The shapes suggested instability – not broken, but unsettled. A shift to vivid red reworked the plaid, placing the character back onto the streets of Shoreditch, styled with Gola Classics’ trainers and a matching bag. That brightness gradually deepened into burgundy before the palette darkened into teal, grey, and black, as broad shoulders and bold cuts remained constant.

After the deepening tones, a delicate, almost ghostlike white look appeared. Its transparency and softened silhouette felt like a final memory of what once was, a brief pause before the collection settled into mourning. The shift back to black brought greater weight. A quietly dramatic black dress stood out for its high, sculptural collar, which veiled the face. It’s weighted hem anchored its elongated silhouette, as Finn Ronsdorf performed his Ode to a Lost Love. The sheer ribbed textures carried both vulnerability and containment. This moment held emotion yet remained restrained, rather than explosive or chaotic.

The final look reintroduced colour with a deep, rich, luminous velvet red dress against the set. The structured shoulders returned, intact with confidence, while the velvet moved in soft, rippling lines as the model walked. Raynor suggested endurance rather than erasure. After the heartbreak, rumination and grief, the piece spoke to the possibility of love regained, not naive but wiser.

Through Post Me Your Last Kiss, Raynor reflected London’s layered history and reinvention, with a love that, too, finds a way to evolve.

Photos: @tagwalk

Designer: @maximilianraynor

Show sponsorship: @golaclassics

Venue sponsorship: @onehundredshoreditch

Production sponsorship: @hiti.london

Maximilian Raynor Lead Assistants:

@chiadower @sukidasilva @julessslulu

@piperjoe150 @ellaa.ruthven

@vira.tierr @honore.thorne @ritabe||8.3.8

@oliviahalfpenny @rubyxbowtell

@denholmbruce @archbnd @josikustermann