It should come as no surprise that British fashion designers turn to Britain for inspiration, but recent collections from the likes of Prada, Louis Vuitton and Celine, are all alive with ‘Anglomania’— and the fashion crowds are weighing in.
The clothes we wear in the countryside offer plenty for designers to play with, from striking red riding jackets, bold tartans, knitwear, and all-weather waxed jackets. There are so many textures and textiles, patterns and silhouettes — endless opportunities for reinterpretation. The physical landscape, its flora and fauna, bring even more to the palette, and the history behind it all? More than enough to linger on.
For both designers and consumers, the ideal of ‘escape to the country’ has never felt so prominent. It is an antidote to the increasingly urbanised, digital and fast-paced world that we live in. It is a place of sweeping landscapes and verdant fields, where troubles are whipped away by the wind and phones have no signal. Daniel Lee, chief creative officer at Burberry, invited us to think of his Autumn/Winter 2025 models as ‘weekend escapees… that great Friday night exodus from London’, who seek ‘long walks in the great outdoors to disconnect’. And with country escapes comes country estates, another playground for designers (and us) to play in. Who wouldn’t want a piece of this fantasy?
Yet fantasy is not the primary selling point. It is the inherent practicality, and good dose of versatility, of British country clothing that has spurred the imagination of designers over the years. You could argue that Coco Chanel’s sartorial legacy can be attributed to her time spent in the Scottish countryside. During her love affair with the Duke of Westminster, she embraced our country sports and would often be seen wearing mens clothes, with the Duke’s tweed jackets a particular favourite. The styles were everything that she wanted womenswear to be: durable, practical and sophisticated, and exactly what the modern woman should wear.
Coco Chanel's ties to the British countryside have long been an inspiration for the fashion house, as seen here in 2012.
It is this idea of the modern woman — a balance of practicality and presentation — that many designers have in mind. She is both elegant and able, dignified, but not afraid to get her hands dirty (she might even feed the chickens in a ballgown, à la Duchess of Devonshire). For Miuccia Prada, nobody encapsulates this as much as Queen Elizabeth II, ‘one of the most elegant women in the world’. The designer was particularly taken by the monarch’s country life. The Miu Miu ‘Miu Balmoral’ collection of Argyle knitwear, quilted gilets and mid-length skirts, complete with thistle bag charms and Church’s walking boots, could have been sent straight to the castle. Waxed jackets are now a staple for the brand.
Meanwhile, older sister Prada featured a barn jacket in the Spring/Summer 24 collection, subsequently sparking one of the season’s biggest trends on a worldwide scale. They were styled with pencil skirts and fitted shirts, showing that even the strongest urbanites can let country style in. The Erdem x Barbour collaboration is one of the best visual representations of the woman these designers are creating for: she who values form and function.
This look from Pharrell Williams' Louis Vuitton's Spring/Summer 2026 Pre-Collection is clearly inspired by the Public Schoolboy.
A strong pull of British countryside fashion is craftsmanship, something of crucial importance to luxury brands and how they distinguish themselves. Chanel was known for her British-made tweed, Maria Grazia Chiuri used Scottish kilt-makers and brands like Harris Tweed and Johnstons of Elgin to supply clothes for the Dior Cruise show held in the gardens of Drummond Castle last year. The pure, virgin wool of Harris Tweed, dyed and spun, hand-woven and finished by islanders in the Outer Hebrides, is thought to be the only fabric produced in commercial quantities by traditional methods.
Outside elements are not the only source of inspiration. Tropes of English country house interiors have been traipsing the runway, coinciding with the renaissance of the country house and growing interest in the grand estates that pepper the British landscape. Burberry’s A/W25 introduced trenches and two-piece suits in deeply rich wallpaper-print velvets, and Erdem Moralioglu spent months nestled in the Chatsworth archives, lifting prints and patterns from the fabrics, including historic curtains that once hung within the house, and reimagining them for styles and silhouettes every woman would want to wear. Who would have thought the Von Trapp children were so ahead of the game?
Erdem Moralioglu's designs for Spring/Summer 2024 were inspired by Debo Devonshire and Chatsworth House.
If there is one thing that British gents do well, it is balancing the traditional with the eccentric. Hedi Slimane’s Anglomania collection for Celine, titled ‘The Bright Young’ and shot in the grounds of Holkham Hall, Norfolk, decorates a base of public school uniforms and the sportswear of the British upper classes with country garden flowers tucked into the brims of hats and short-shorts paired with knee-high electric red socks. Pharrell Williams’ Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2026 pre-collection is described as an expression of the ‘enduring country dandy splice with those of the contemporary city dandy’, serving up the charm and wit of British country fashion with sartorial panache. Designers see the eccentricities of the British aristocracy as a perfectly modern way to assert one’s individuality.
It would be remiss to dismiss the influence of film and television in this ongoing love affair. Celebrated period dramas like Downton Abbey, films like Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice (which celebrates its 20th birthday this year), along with more contemporary shows like Rivals (when clothes were worn), Saltburn, The Gentlemen and Traitors all offer glimpses into the homes, landscapes and pastimes of the country set.
But it’s not all new. Florals reminiscent of the English country garden have long been a feature of high fashion collections. Christian Dior’s dreams of visiting the Isles began with his mother’s English flower garden (and continued with his appreciation of our cuisine, writing that he ‘dotes’ on Yorkshire pudding and worships our breakfasts). I could talk all day about Erdem's endlessly elegant flora-inspired collections, and Burberry’s latest collaboration with Highgrove, celebrating the beauty of the British springtime, highlights just how joyous and colourful our natural world is. The appeal of country florals translates beyond the green fingered, because for so many of us, they unlock memories of the places we have been, and the places so integral to our nation.
The countryside offers endless stories to be told, and high fashion is starting to tell them.
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