LJUBLJANA FASHION WEEK: THE COLLECTIONS TO KNOW
Experimental knitwear, contemporary heritage and radical material innovation
The 17th edition of Ljubljana Fashion Week (LJFW), held from 7th- 10th October 2026, offering a snapshot of a design community that is independent in spirit, experimental in practice and deeply connected to craft, culture and material innovation. LJFW has cultivated a perspective of its own. Across the collections, traditional techniques met contemporary design, existing materials were reworked into new forms, and regional heritage was reinterpreted through a modern lens.
SARIVALENCI: FU FU Diamonds
The brand enjoys creating stories and situations, using fashion as a means of storytelling. In its creative process, it often works with unconventional materials and objects, giving them new purposes and incorporating them into clothing contexts. The collection explores the contrast between athleisure aesthetics, lingerie, and a kitschy image of luxury. Grey jersey, associated with tracksuits and everyday comfort, is combined with elements of lingerie that are presented through illusion as a 2D graphic motif. The collection plays with the proportions of the body, visually shortening and distorting it through extremely short legs. A texture of spikes is also introduced onto the soft jersey, creating an unexpected contrasting element. The inspiration comes from an “ugly but cool” aesthetic – kitsch, exaggeration, artificial materials, and the unapologetic desire to make something look expensive.
SAMPLED: The boy and the fish
“The Boy and the Fish” is a fall/winter collection inspired by the cultural heritage of the town of Luče and by the stories of women who once carried river trout to the nearby bishop’s seat. The collection explores the interplay between masculine and feminine silhouettes, bringing them together into a single, contemporary narrative. Clothing and accessories are crafted from a diverse selection of deadstock, recycled, and new textiles. By thoughtfully combining different textures and materials, the collection translates tradition into a modern fashion expression and offers a fresh way to reinterpret local heritage. The brand’s design approach is based on deconstruction: it combines existing pieces with recycled materials, deadstock, and new fabrics to create new functions and forms.
PETJA ZOREC: Chlorine 2028
Drawing of sporting disciplines and the interplay of contrasting qualities – serious humour, sweet bitterness, frozen movement, kitsch art – Petja’s collections tell personal narratives of a specific time. “Chlorine” is a professional swimmer who will compete in the 200m breaststroke at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The physical demands of her daily routine have shaped both her physique and her mental resilience. In the pool, her movement is influenced by the volume of the water, air bubbles, and her daily condition. She is alternately surrounded by sharp and blurred images that shape her aesthetic preferences. The acoustic isolation allows her to sing her favorite songs, as well as to cry and scream in frustration underwater. Repetitive movements often transport her back to the past.
KISS THE FUTURE: Sweet Boredom
The “Sweet Boredom” collection is an ode to youth, captured in endless, melancholic afternoons. It draws inspiration from that particular kind of boredom that brings no anxiety, but instead creates space for daydreaming and carefreeness. The clothing line combines relaxed streetwear pieces with loose silhouettes and a nostalgic colour palette, crafted from vintage and dead stock materials sourced from local environments. They are designed for days when there is nowhere to rush to and when the greatest luxury is simply being here and now. The collection celebrates boredom, carefreeness, and the luxury of simply being, while exploring how fashion can transcend its aesthetic and functional role to become a space for connection and individual recognition. The collection includes a special collaboration with VDC INCE, through which individuals developmental disabilities co-created selected garments through their hand-made embroideries.
SILA KEJžAR: She left in October
Sila Kejžar translates the visual language of Balkan folklore into contemporary womenswear. The Spring/Summer 27 collection explores a softer side of SILA KEJZAR. Light silhouettes, vintage florals and new materials come together with curiosity, play and a sense of ease. Inspired by a Balkan spring: cool mornings, warm afternoons, gardens suddenly overflowing with blossom and the scent of freshly turned earth. Days spent outside, tables moving into the sun, wild flowers growing freely and the landscape slowly waking up after winter. There is something both tender and unruly about the season.
JONA BEDNJANEC: Persona
The collection “Persona” explores the relationship between identity, character and clothing. The collection combines knitwear, textiles, and repurposed remnants from previous explorations, using contrasting silhouettes, textures, and materials to create a playful, distinctive, and unexpected world. It explores what happens when knitwear moves beyond its usual boundaries and enters into dialogue with other materials. Jona Bednjanec offers a contemporary vision of knitwear that is expressive, thoughtful and made to be worn for years.
ULAWEISS: Herbarium
Herbarium is a fashion collection inspired by the quiet beauty of pressed flowers and the human desire to preserve what is fleeting. The garments take inspiration from dried flowers, their fragile structures, faded colours, folded petals, stems, and delicate textures and reflects the passage of time: flowers that were once alive become delicate remnants, yet in their changed form they acquire a different kind of beauty. Each piece becomes a kind of botanical memory – an attempt to hold onto something temporary. Natural imperfections, raw textures, irregular forms, and signs of ageing are embraced rather than concealed. Herbarium is a collection about passing and preserving – about accepting that everything changes, while finding ways to honour what was beautiful.
MATIC VELER: the energy of the future
The MATIC VELER × GEN-I collection brings together art, fashion, innovation, and sustainability in a story of energy as a force of movement, transformation, and progress. Inspired by the sun, sunrays, and clouds, these natural elements are transformed into organic, dynamic structures through MATIC VELER’s signature laser-cutting technique. The collection’s visual language is defined by delicate, almost ethereal transitions of light, complemented by reflective materials that capture and reflect light, creating a sense of energy in constant motion. By combining advanced techniques, thoughtful use of materials, and an artistic approach, the collection creates a dialogue between sustainable energy and sustainable fashion, presenting a vision of the future in which technology, nature, and creativity come together to form a new aesthetic.
BARBARA VRBANčIč: handwork as resistance
Barbara Vrbančič uses traditional knitting and embroidery techniques to tell personal stories and reflect on contemporary society. Her slow-fashion approach creates clothes designed to endure, positioning handwork as a meaningful counterpoint to the speed of modern life. The designer often looks to the past for inspiration in her work, incorporating traditional hand techniques such as knitting and embroidery into her collections. She sees these techniques as both a means of telling personal stories and of critiquing contemporary society. For her, handwork represents calm and, by its very nature, demands genuine human effort in a fast-paced, crazy world. Her clothes are made according to the principle of slow fashion and are created with the intention of enduring and taking on a life of their own.
LAN KREBS: Single Jersey
The “Single Jersey” collection challenges the traditional perception of single jersey fabric, often seen as plain and uninspiring. By transforming it into an exciting, dynamic material full of creative potential. Through experimental techniques, single jersey is elevated from a simple foundational fabric to a central design feature, becoming fresh, versatile, and innovative. The design process explores a range of techniques using a single jersey knitting machine, focusing on interactions between yarn types, surface textures, and construction methods to achieve striking results. Additionally, it integrates post-treatment processes such as pleating, space dyeing, and burnout, demonstrating how traditional fabric manipulation can create unconventional and bold outcomes. This exploration aims to push the boundaries of creativity in garment design and expand the possibilities of what single jersey can become.
MEDLE: Alexis’ Wardrobe
The collection Alexis’ Wardrobe plays with the idea of the perfect capsule wardrobe and turns it on its head. Medle classics meet menswear tailoring, exaggerated proportions, draping, colour, prints and humour. The result is a wardrobe that doesn’t adapt to the rules, but to the person wearing it. Alexis is overdressed for the supermarket and underdressed for – well, we’re yet to find out. In the morning, she goes grocery shopping, in the afternoon to a meeting, and in the evening to dinner. Perhaps all in the same blazer. But always on her own terms. Her capsule wardrobe doesn’t follow a checklist of must-have essentials. Because what is considered a wardrobe staple for someone else may never be one for Alexis. Alexis doesn’t need a wardrobe that goes with everything. She needs a wardrobe that goes with her.
PONORELII: You and Me
The collection consists of both menswear and womenswear, exploring the relationship between everyday wear and the distinctive Ponorelii aesthetic – pieces designed to transcend trends and remain relevant over time. The inspiration comes from everyday culture, elevated through clean lines and premium materials. The colour palette is balanced: soft pastels, coral blue as a statement tone, and neutral bases that allow for effortless layering. The 2026–2027 collection reflects the DNA of Ponorelii which is elegance and a contemporary everyday aesthetic expressed through a ready-to-wear approach.
ABOUT LJUBLJANA FASHION WEEK
Ljubljana Fashion Week (LJFW) has been championing established and emerging Slovenian designers since 2014, bringing together fashion, press and the creative community in Slovenia’s capital. Its multidisciplinary programme spans catwalks, exhibitions, talks, student showcases and the LJFW WOW Awards. Through partnerships with regional and international fashion weeks, LJFW continues to expand opportunities for Slovenian talent beyond its home market.
Website: ljfw.org
Instagram: @ljfw
Press enquiries: @i.deapr
