By The Fashion Editorial Team
Theo James brings a distinctly modern ease to the British shoemaker’s Autumn-Winter 2026 campaign.
At Goodwood Racing Circuit, Church’s finds an elegant meeting point between velocity and restraint. Its Autumn-Winter 2026 campaign returns Theo James to the house’s world of English craft, placing him among vintage racing cars, pit-lane rituals and the measured glamour of a day at the track.
Directed by David James and photographed by Samuel Bradley, the story trades rigid formality for something more instinctive. James moves from a soft-grain tan Sidley boot and cocoa suede Sidbury derby to the new Skipton Oxford, styled with relaxed tailoring for an impromptu picnic. The Stanhope Chelsea boot accompanies tea on the starting grid; the Farsley penny loafer appears alongside a Great Dane hitchhiker before champagne closes the scene on the podium.
The collection’s central proposition, New Formal, is less a rejection of tradition than a subtle recalibration. Oxfords, derbies, Chelsea boots and loafers retain Church’s exacting construction, but softened finishes and easier silhouettes allow them to move naturally between ceremony and the everyday. It is heritage without nostalgia: polished, versatile and quietly assured.
