Today, marking its 50th year, the London-based fashion brand founded in 1976, Whistles, unveils an entire rebrand, introducing a new product design direction for its Autumn/Winter 2026 campaign, “Designed For a New Mind.”
This new direction for Whistles is rooted in conversations with its customers and the clothes they want to see. While Whistles’ 50-year heritage gives the brand a lot to look back on and draw from, the fashion label is instead looking forward. Their rebrand focuses on who the brand is for today and gives consumers a role in what the brand does next.
Their first campaign under the new rebrand is an Autumn/Winter campaign created in collaboration with 50 of its customers. Through an open casting call from a guerrilla flyposting campaign, more than 2000 people responded, with 50 handpicked to bring their stories, careers and styles to the final A/W 2026 campaign.
All 50 chosen came from a variety of backgrounds, from scientists to teachers to those in tech, each bringing their ideas and lives to the brand. Leading the hero campaign were six women: Jody Juba, Isha Korantak, Jodie Owen, Emma Peel, Kira Phillips and Dominique Rollins, who were shot across London in new looks to reflect their own personal style and stories. While the brand will continue to collaborate with the wider group across future projects, this new era for Whistles will see the brand, each season, work on a new project with a new cast and a completely different take.
Speaking on the rebrand, Julia Monro, Group Chief Brand Officer, said:
“The new brand direction captures what makes Whistles and its customers distinctive: curiosity, creativity and open-mindedness. Casting 50 customers for the relaunch campaign brought that idea to life, while creating a collective we can continue to collaborate with in the future. It’s the beginning of a far more open future for the brand.”
Seemingly, this new direction for Whistles challenges traditional fashion campaigns. Rather than introducing a curated version of the Whistles consumer, the brand instead taps into its community to reflect who the Whistles consumer is.
Design Director at Whistles Mo Riach expanded on the new A/W collection built for the Whistles consumer, stating:
“Autumn/Winter 2026 will see an evolved collection leaning into a new high-low sentiment, which underpins our Designed For An Open Mind ethos. We’re rediscovering the pieces we’re known for with a renewed attention to detail, craftsmanship and modernity. Customers will be able to interpret the collection with their own personal style in mind; that sense of individuality is really important to us.”
Alongside this new approach to their seasonal collection launches, the brand will see an entire identity refresh and website redesign.
The sharper and lighter visual identity introduces a new signature colour, Lemonade and a reworked asterisk inspired by the Whistles archive, reflecting both the brand’s heritage and its new open-minded philosophy.
What makes this relaunch interesting is that the brand isn’t simply changing the way it looks and hoping this sways consumer interest; the new brand identity goes further by positioning Whistles as a brand designed with its audience rather than simply for it.
