DI PETSA SS26: Excavating the Archaeology of Self at London Fashion Week

Source: DI PETSA

On Friday, September 19, 2025, DI PETSA unveiled its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, The Archaeology of Self, at London Fashion Week. The presentation was more than a runway show—it was a meditation on memory, mythology, and the fragments of identity that define the human experience.

The concept behind The Archaeology of Self reimagines the psyche as an excavation site. Just as archaeologists brush away centuries of earth to uncover temples, ruins, and relics, the collection encourages us to patiently and imaginatively unearth layers of memory and myth. Identity, DI PETSA suggests, is not a fixed narrative but a mosaic—shifting, fractured, and endlessly reconstructed.

The show explored this metaphor through garments that functioned as artifacts of the subconscious. Silk and jersey ribbons draped loosely across the body deconstructed the brand’s signature Wetlook codes, echoing the layering of memory. Childhood recollections, like shards of pottery, appeared reconstructed through the biases of the present, while mythological references elevated personal history into the realm of timeless storytelling.

At the heart of the collection was the myth of Selene, the moon goddess who loved the mortal shepherd Endymion. Selene was cast as a metaphor for memory itself—radiant yet elusive, always glimpsed in fragments. The search for her became a search for the hidden temple within the self, an allegory for the excavation of one’s own inner world.

This theme materialized in the Ancient Moon Bag, a standout accessory unearthed from DI PETSA’s subconscious design language. The metallic piece, embroidered to appear as though washed by the sea under moonlight, was carried by models cast as both goddesses and archaeologists. Variations in metallic knit, organza, and rattan further blurred the line between artifact and contemporary accessory.

The presentation drew an eclectic audience, including Toni Laites, Cacherel Mercer, Lottie Tomlinson, Amybeth McNulty, Ashnikko, Taylah Elaine, Bimini, Adot Gak, Bel Priestley, and SAY NOW. Their presence underscored the collection’s cultural resonance, appealing to a generation attuned to the intersection of mythology, psychology, and fashion.

Through writing, performance, and design, The Archaeology of Self offered a reflection on the ways culture shapes memory and how excavation itself transforms both the seeker and what is found. The garments became fragments of lived experience—each piece a poetic artifact, reminding us that we are never unbroken statues but mosaics of personal mythologies, reconstructed time and again.

By merging mythology with modern design and psychological inquiry, DI PETSA delivered a collection that was as intellectually engaging as it was visually compelling. In its fractures and reconstructions, The Archaeology of Self invited audiences to look inward and embrace the beauty of memory’s shifting terrain.