Arts & Fashion
MFW 2026
There’s a reason why Manchester has its own fashion week – and this year the event is set to be stronger than ever.
15 June 2026
This article first appeared in our Organic September 2026 issue of My Green Pod Magazine, published 09 September 2026. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Manchester Fashion Week (MFW) 2026 is shaping up to be something really quite special. It has come round quickly, but the initiatives we have been building outside the week itself carry impactful messages that will leave space for real consideration.
We’re past the point of just building a Fashion Week and are now creating a platform for the north to have a much bigger voice in the future of fashion.
This year we’ve expanded the programme across four days; MFW 2026 will bring together designers, brands, retailers, technology, education, culture, music and some incredibly inspiring people from across the industry.
From runways showcasing the incredible talent emerging from the north to the conversations challenging how the industry operates, the thing that excites me most is creating a space where people can see, hear and experience what the future could look like.
Our themes of Changing Narratives, Changing Behaviour and Changing Industry are about getting beyond the noise and asking the difficult questions: how do we make fashion work better for people, animals, planet and place? How do we use technology, innovation and collaboration to create real systemic change?
We’re bringing together established industry voices, emerging designers and young talent because we genuinely believe the future shouldn’t be dictated by those who created the old system. It should be reengineered and built collectively, with processes in mind. We’ve joined forces with Collective Fashion Justice to do just that – because collective impact leaves a lasting impact.
There’s something really powerful about doing this in Manchester. This city has always been a place where things happen – fashion, music, football, technology, manufacturing and creativity. We’re reconnecting those dots and putting Manchester firmly back in the conversation.
We’re excited, incredibly proud and deeply invested in what we’re creating. So much has been built independently, through belief, collaboration and a determination to keep pushing the conversation forward.
More than anything, we’re excited to see what happens when all these brilliant people come together with one shared ambition: to change fashion for the better.
Tuesday 08 September
Press launch
Castlefield Gallery, 17.00
Wednesday 09 – Sunday 20 September
Interwoven
Threads & Futures Connected is a collaboration between British Textile Biennial, Manchester Fashion Week, Castlefield Gallery and artists Pippa Eason and Nick Booton, exploring threads, materials and the future of fashion.
Castlefield Gallery, 10.00 – 17.00 daily (open to the public)
Wednesday 09 September
Panel talks & workshops
Speakers across the day include Manchester Fashion Week founders Gemma Gratton and Hayley Shaw; John Higginson, Eco Age; Liz Scott MBE, Turing Innovation; Tamara Cincik, Fashion Roundtable; Sasha Camilli, PETA and Lavinia Muth, sustainability consultant.
Runways (all at Versa Studios)
Fashion: The Conversation
An unfiltered discussion with Katharine Hamnett, Lynne Franks and Sophie Benson on where fashion has been, where it stands today and where it needs to go next.
Campfield Studios, 18.00 (open to the public). Tickets can be purchased via Luma here.
Thursday 10 September
Panel talks & workshops
Speakers across the day of talks and workshops include designer Katharine Hamnett, journalist Tamsin Blanchard, Victoria Jenkins from Unhidden and Phillipa Grogan from Nobody’s Child.
Runways (all at Versa Studios)
Friday 11 September
Panel talks & workshops
Speakers across the day include Lynne Franks, plus keynotes from tech brands including Loqbox, Voxelo, GS1 UK and Air Emea.
Runways (all at Versa Studios)
Susty Club Runway & Pop-up Shop
Campfield Studios, 18.00 (open to the public). Tickets can be purchased via Luma here.
Saturday 12 September
Susty Club x The Big Swap
Campfield Studios, 10.00 (open to the public). Tickets can be purchased via Luma here.
Northern Quarter Mash Up
Various retailers across the Northern Quarter. Open to the public (no tickets required).
Future Threads Runway
Luke Matthew Iveson Runway, Trafford Palazzo, 11.00 (open to the public). This is a free event, but registration is required via Luma here.
FASHION: THE CONVERSATION
09 September, 18.00-19.00
On the panel:
Katharine Hamnett
Katharine Hamnett is a British fashion designer best known for her bold slogan T-shirts and commitment to political and environmental activism. She launched her eponymous label in 1979, quickly gaining recognition for her sharp tailoring and powerful messaging. In 1984 she won the inaugural British Fashion Award for Designer of the Year. Rising to fame with designs like ‘Choose Life’, Hamnett used fashion as a platform to address global issues such as war, nuclear disarmament and climate change. A pioneer of ethical and sustainable fashion, she has consistently challenged the industry to take responsibility for its social and environmental impact, making her one of the most influential and outspoken figures in modern fashion.Lynne Franks OBE
Throughout Lynne’s long and successful career, she has influenced awareness of many societal shifts and trends both in the UK and internationally. She positioned the UK as a world fashion leader by initiating London Fashion Week and the British Fashion Awards. Her wide breadth of influence in the business world includes developing McDonald’s UK women’s leadership network; working with Tesco on engaging their women’s customers through media partnerships; launching high-fashion home shopping with NEXT and much, much more.Sophie Benson
Sophie Benson is a journalist, consultant, author and contributing editor at Vogue Business. She covers a host of topics across fashion and sustainability including policy and legislation, material innovation, supply chain transformation and responsible manufacturing. Her book, Sustainable Wardrobe, has been published in English, Italian and French Canadian.
There’s a reason why Manchester has its own fashion week – and this year the event is set to be stronger than ever.
How Safia Minney is helping to drive a just transition in fashion and textiles.
’97% of toilets don’t even have bins’: inside fashion’s menstrual health crisis.
Circular fashion consultant Gemma Metheringham asks: is buying secondhand fashion a ‘good’ thing to do?
