Sanyukta Shrestha SS26

"The Newars, 1901" at London Fashion Week

Written by: Lucy Dover (@luce_dover_)

Before the lights dimmed inside the gilded 1901 Ballroom at Andaz London, A drummer and musician playing taal cymbals stepped onto the runway. The layered rhythm of traditional Nepalese percussion filled the space, echoing against the stained-glass dome and marble floors. Moments later, an announcement invited the audience to observe a minute’s silence for those who had died in the recent protests in Nepal, a youth-led uprising that toppled the government earlier that month. At least nineteen young demonstrators lost their lives demanding accountability and an end to corruption. The stillness that followed felt charged, a rare moment of collective reflection at Fashion Week.

That sense of reverence extended into the show itself. Sanyukta Shrestha, a London-based, Nepalese-born designer celebrated as a pioneer of sustainable luxury, is known for transforming fashion into a language of empathy and endurance. A graduate of the London College of Fashion, she has built a cult following for her organic, vegan, and cruelty-free designs that fuse high-end craftsmanship with deep social consciousness. Since 1998, Shrestha has worked to empower women in developing countries through ethical employment, reviving thousand-year-old Nepalese textile traditions. She was among the first to introduce sustainability to the bridal industry in 2011, earning media nicknames such as “Green Goddess” and “the Greta of the Wedding World.” Her accolades include the PETA Luxury Vegan Wedding Award (2021), and one of her gowns now sits permanently in The Fashion Museum, making her the first designer of Nepali origin to be documented in its history. Her creations have graced red carpets from the Oscars to Cannes, worn by Candice Swanepoel, Fifth Harmony, and Natalie Coyle among others.

Shrestha’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection, “The Newars, 1901,” unfolded as both a historical reverie and a reclamation. Imagining what might happen if a Newar woman from Kathmandu travelled to Victorian London at the height of the British Empire, the designer wove together two cultural lineages, Nepalese ritual and Victorian grandeur, into one transcendent narrative of survival and self-definition.

“This collection is personally very dear to me,” she told The Sanxtuary after the show. “It’s about a Newari woman travelling back to the Victorian era. Would she lose her identity, or stand out? I wanted her to blend the elegance and drama of that world with her own heritage, never denying her origin, but transforming it.”

That idea of duality pulsed through every garment. Models drifted down the runway in sweeping silhouettes of red, white, black, and gold, colours rich with symbolism in both Newari ceremony and Western pageantry. Their hair was braided with silk sachika tassels, an ancestral emblem of vitality and continuity. Hand-embroidered gowns like the Kumari Dress and hand-printed Ranjana Coat shimmered beneath the stained-glass dome, while accessories turned craft into armour: biodegradable fruit-leather handbags with hand-carved brass Vajra handles, each piece echoing strength and sacred geometry.

All Images courtesy of Black PR

Among the guests seated front row was Zainab Jiwa, the presenter and activist who had spoken at the Together for Palestine concert just a week earlier. Her presence felt especially fitting at a show rooted in ideas of heritage, resistance, and shared voice.

If “The Newars, 1901” unfolded like time travel, it also carried a quiet defiance. In an era when global fashion still privileges Eurocentric narratives, Shrestha’s work insists that heritage is not static. It evolves, hybridises, and survives. Her brand has long been defined by this philosophy of living heritage, merging luxury with sustainability. Since launching her label in 2011, she has championed cruelty-free, hand-spun materials such as hemp and bamboo, produced through Fair-Trade collaborations with artisans in Nepal. Many of these women come from rural communities where traditional crafts risk disappearing.

“My sanxtuary,” she reflected, “is working with the women artisans in the villages in Nepal, women who need to be seen. When I can give back to them, when their work is recognised globally, that’s where I find peace.”

All Images courtesy of Black PR

It is a philosophy that feels increasingly radical in an industry built on speed and spectacle. Shrestha’s approach: slow, ethical, and rooted in reciprocity, positions her not just as a designer but as a storyteller bridging continents and generations. Her gowns have appeared on red carpets from the Oscars to Cannes, yet her greatest triumph lies in how they honour invisible hands: the weavers, dyers, and embroiderers whose skills carry the weight of centuries.

In “The Newars, 1901,” that invisible labour became visible. And against the backdrop of political upheaval in Nepal, the collection resonated as more than fashion. It was an act of remembrance, resilience, and reclamation. The future of fashion lies not in forgetting where we come from, but in daring to remember.

Image courtesy of Black PR