Joseph returns to the LFW runway amid a different economy

When Barbara Campos became CEO in 2018, Joseph was in a state of creative drift and financial strain. It generated roughly £60.6 million ($77 million) in revenue in 2018 but was loss-making and overextended. The early years of her tenure were about fundamentals, not moments: fixing product, pulling back overextended lines, sharpening operations and anchoring the business in what customers actually returned to. 

“We had reached a stage where we regained clarity in the product, simplicity in our processes and financial strength,” Campos said in an interview following the show.

That translated into numbers. After posting a £9.7 million ($12.3 million) EBITDA loss in 2023, Joseph returned to profit in 2024. According to Vogue Business, the brand brought in about £56.4 million ($71.6 million) in revenue for the year ending February 2024. Those are the latest available figures, as the company has not yet reported 2025 results. While revenue is still below its 2018 level, the rebound shows the business is back on a more stable footing.

Bringing new structure to the brand was crucial. Joseph’s permanent, non-discounted Foundation line accounts for about 20% of sales and traces back to the brand’s ready-to-wear label launched in 1983, focusing on classic pieces. These include repeat essentials like coats, tailored jackets and leather trousers, and offer steadier margins as shoppers grow more price-conscious, according to Campos. Prices typically range from £295–£795 ($375–$1,010). By comparison, the main collection, which made up the majority of the show’s fashion, sits higher, with outerwear reaching £1,200–£2,500 ($1,525–$3,180). The pricing keeps Joseph below mega-luxury houses but solidly in the contemporary designer tier.

But the Fall2026 collection also showed that Joseph is aiming for more than dependable staples with an evolved style language. Creative director Mario Arena, who joined in 2024 and presented his second collection for the brand, built Fall 2026 around the idea of “Finding Form Where Form Does Not Exist,” drawing inspiration from sculptor Richard Stone. “He has this amazing ability to create softness in very heavy materials like marble, bronze and stone,” Arena said. That sculptural approach showed up in coats that looked carved rather than stitched, with deep folds adding movement. One standout knit piece weighing 12 kilograms was made with resin-coated, quill-like elements designed to move with the wearer. “When it moves, the sound it makes is like rain on a roof. I wanted it to feel sensory,” Arena said.

For those who have associated Joseph with quiet minimalism for years, the collection felt unexpected, according to anecdotal conversations with people at the show. Campos acknowledged that reaction in the interview. “It was a surprise for a lot of people to see us come out with a strong show. A lot of people were expecting our monochrome,” she said.

That response underscored why the runway mattered more than a campaign for the brand right now. After years focused on fixing product and operations, the show signaled that Joseph can operate as both a steady business and a brand with a clear creative point of view.

Joseph’s return also comes as more accessible brands claim runway space and inch into the accessible luxury category. H&M staged a major London Fashion Week show last season, and Cos is now regularly presenting in New York. On the runway, both brands have presented an “elevated” design aesthetic and some higher price points.

Campos is careful not to overstate what a runway show delivers for Joseph, but she said she sees purpose in the platform going forward. “It goes beyond metrics. It’s an opportunity to return to a global platform, to gain wider visibility and to ensure the legacy of the brand,” she said.

Strategically, Joseph remains measured about where it places its bets. The U.K. remains its largest market, followed by France and Japan. The United States business, once scaled back during restructuring in 2018, is now under renewed consideration, while the Middle East is on the radar due to strong client demand for the brand in London, according to Campos.

Campos underscored that Joseph is “very careful not to extend our prices into a territory that is not ours.” It aims to be positioned as “luxury in fabrication and design,” while still being grounded in value, relative to aspirational peers.

New categories, such as handbags, have been introduced as accessible entry points. The brand began developing its handbag category in 2010. The bags mirror the house’s understated design DNA, with clean lines and supple leather, and are typically priced between £250–£700 ($320–$900).

Amid the brand’s recent changes, Campos said she is not losing sight of the in-store experience, which has become a bigger focus as Joseph looks to accentuate its hold in international markets. “Retail is important. It’s going to continue to be important,” said Campos. “Particularly after Covid, you could see people really craving that attention, that service, that sense of proximity that you only can create in a physical store.” At its Regent Street flagship, opened in 2023, the experience is built around personalized styling, tactile fabric discovery and one-to-one service. Campos said it creates the kind of intimate, considered environment that mirrors the brand’s emphasis on precision and wardrobe longevity.

Ultimately, though, Campos’s outlook is pragmatic. Over the next three to five years, success for the brand is set to be slow and considered — growing revenue and profit without losing “what makes Joseph distinct”, she said. The goal is simple for a U.K. brand of this size: to expand the business while keeping the product as focused and intentional as this first runway return.

At London Fashion Week, growth hinges on wholesale reach and retail reality

Two brands underscored the same commercial truth: cultural narrative attracts attention, especially in London, but distribution converts it.

At Labrum London, a London brand focused on bringing West African fashion to the luxury customer, founder Foday Dumbuya sells pieces in the £350–£950 range (about $445–$1,200) primarily through DTC, with selective wholesale accounts. According to him, London’s limited buyer presence remains a hurdle, even as the BFC invests in its outreach, press, and buyer program, which launched last year. “There are not many buyers that come here, so you have to go to Paris to sell the brand,” he said. And although the BFC has once again waived fees for presenting at LFW, Labrum’s runway show was backed by a partnership. “Without Adidas, we wouldn’t be able to do a show like this,” said Foday. The brand is launching runwear and shoes in collaboration with Adidas this week.

At the Chinese brand Mithridate, creative director Daniel Fletcher is pushing into broader wholesale after coming into the brand in January last year. Ready-to-wear pieces sit at £450–£1,200, or $570–$1,520. The brand’s recently established retail partners include Galeries Lafayette in Paris, plus stores in Chicago and Dubai. The brand has introduced more British-style inspirations through coats and shirting to appeal to the international customer. Yet conversion still mostly depends on physical presence, through international trunk shows and pop-ups. “If you want someone to buy a luxury product online, they still want to have seen it in person and felt the quality [before purchasing],” Fletcher said post-show.

The buyer’s take on Fendi

Fendi showed its first collection from new creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri, previously at Dior, on Thursday during Milan Fashion Week. 

Simon Longland, director of fashion buying at Harrods, said it is compelling to see the Fendi men’s and women’s collections unified as a coherent whole under a single, unwavering vision. “By committing to a disciplined palette of black and ivory, interrupted only by a singular red dress and utilitarian flashes of khaki, the house has successfully pivoted the focus towards the tactile mastery of texture, embellishment and fabrication,” he said. “For Harrods, the standout opportunities are found in the lace, leather and intricate embroidery across dresses and separates; these pieces perfectly capture the intersection of heritage craftsmanship and contemporary sophistication that our clients demand.”

Earnings

• French fashion group SMCP, which owns Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac, reported a 1.2% drop in fourth-quarter sales to €322 million (about $349 million) after exiting BHV stores in France. Full-year revenue rose 1.7% to €1.22 billion (about $1.32 billion), with net income of €17 million (about $18 million) and adjusted EBIT up 80% to €95 million (about $103 million).

Executive Moves

• Capri Holdings has appointed Tyler Reddien, most recently CFO of The Body Shop, as chief financial officer and chief operating officer, effective March 30, succeeding Thomas J. Edwards Jr. Capri, which owns Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, said Reddien previously held senior roles at Natura &Co., Hertz and United Airlines.

News to know

• Saks Global, which owns Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, has secured access to $825 million (about €760 million) of a $1.75 billion (about €1.62 billion) financing package to support operations during bankruptcy, according to reporting from WWD. More than 380 companies, including LVMH, Kering and Christian Louboutin, have resumed shipments totaling about $1.2 billion (roughly €1.1 billion) in retail value, covering 75% of planned first-quarter inventory.
• On Thursday, the European Union approved its “Omnibus” package scaling back the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). It limits due-diligence rules to companies with more than 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) in turnover and reporting rules to those with over 1,000 employees and €450 million ($540 million) in turnover. In fashion, the stricter thresholds would still cover large groups such as LVMH, Kering, Inditex, H&M Group, Adidas and Prada Group, while excluding many mid-sized brands and suppliers.
• Tech platform Croissant raised $28 million (bringing total funding to $52 million) — including $14 million in equity led by Portage, Third Prime and George Roberts, plus $14 million in debt — to scale its model embedding resale into brand checkout. The platform has driven more than $50 million in GMV across 100,000-plus users and partners with retailers including Nordstrom, Revolve, Reformation and Ssense to help brands boost repeat purchases and customer lifetime value.

Listen in

On this week’s Glossy Podcast, Jill Manoff is joined by Silvano Vangi, creative and merchandising director at Printemps New York, to share a buyer’s perspective on NYFW and the brands that stood out. He discusses how Printemps approaches fashion week and approaches its role as a retail curator, and what he makes of the growing consumer-driven spectacle of the shows. Listen here.

Read on Glossy

Meta is auto-generating AI ads for brands, and they’re not happy about it. Why American Eagle is sponsoring Stagecoach. Off Season is getting into licensed NBA fashion collections.