With its third issue, System Collections presents a panorama of the recent Autumn/Winter 2026–2027 show season – where an expansive portfolio and in-depth conversations gauge the temperature of fashion today, both on and off the runway.

The conversations gather the insights and opinions of 20 critics, commentators and creatives. What emerges is a document of an industry in motion, navigating change, headwinds and unpredictable forces, yet continually propelled by a restless creative energy. More than ever, fashion is shaped by the complexities of modern-day globalisation: the US and Asia as the two dominant axes of consumer power; geopolitics influencing markets, but less so designers’ collections; entertainment and celebrity expanding fashion’s field of attention; luxury houses increasingly tailoring their wares to the 1%, opening opportunities for more democratic brands and price points; the fortunes of once seemingly invincible brands now resting on the shoulders of visionary creative directors; and an industry infrastructure on the cusp of being partly reconfigured by AI.

Set against this backdrop, the issue’s portfolio brings together photographer Johnny Dufort and stylist Suzanne Koller who reframe the runway looks of the season (from over 70 brands’ collections; behemoths and beginners alike) in a vibrant and off-kilter new context, capturing the instinct, invention and idiosyncrasy that continues to animate fashion at its best. Throughout the Fashion Month, the shows conjured expressions as complex and contradictory as the world that informs them: within a single day, a moment of dystopian anxiety could give way to one of unbridled joy – a reminder that, for all its colossal scale and corporate machinery, fashion remains a deeply human endeavour.