Article Summary: PinkPantheress headlined the North Stage at All Points East in a cropped military jacket, puffed sleeves and a studded belt. Militaria has been building on runways and red carpets all year, and a festival stage is where a forecast becomes a fact. Here are both looks, decoded.
Fashion has been forecasting the military jacket since the spring collections. It took a headliner in Victoria Park to settle the argument. On Saturday night, the forecast stopped being a forecast.
PinkPantheress performed at All Points East on August 22, 2026, headlining the North Stage at Victoria Park in London. She wore a cropped black military jacket with puffed sleeves and decorative trim over a cutout bodysuit and faux-fur-trimmed micro shorts. A second look followed for her set with Zara Larsson.
What Did PinkPantheress Wear at All Points East?
Two looks, deliberately opposed. The solo set went militaristic; the collaboration went bright.
The first jacket carried real construction. WWD documented the full look, including the cropped black button-up silhouette, voluminous puffed sleeves, and decorative trim running across the front.
Underneath sat a black-and-blue bodysuit with large cutouts around the midsection, broken by a single strip of textured fabric. She tucked it into dark grey micro shorts trimmed with faux fur at the front, then belted the whole thing with studded hardware.
The tension is what makes it work. Because puffed sleeves and a cropped hem are unmistakably feminine, they cut directly against the jacket’s rigid military structure.
The Y2K micro shorts and the studded belt then drag the look another two decades forward. Consequently, nothing in the outfit reads as costume, despite every element being a reference.
The Second Look Went the Other Way
She changed completely for her joint appearance. A bright red bralette with feather trim along the neckline replaced the jacket entirely.
Below it came a dark-wash denim wrap skirt fastened with brown leather closures at the hip. Opaque red tights finished it — a signature she has worn consistently across this touring cycle, and one that has quietly driven the red tights trend all year.
The occasion explains the shift. She joined Zara Larsson Stateside, the pair’s collaborative track, and WWD reported that Larsson performed the same day in a beaded bra top and sequinned micro skirt.
Two performers, one stage, opposite registers. That contrast is exactly why both looks traveled further than either would have alone.
Military Dressing Is Already a Fall 2026 Trend
This has been building for months. The military jacket trend 2026 ran through the spring collections and has since colonized street style and red carpets alike.
Jonathan Anderson put a military jacket on Vogue’s November cover through his Dior debut, worn by Greta Lee. Meanwhile, Jenna Ortega and Jodie Turner-Smith have both adopted the silhouette — Turner-Smith in a black, white and red version that read almost Napoleonic.
The reference cycle runs deep. Alexander McQueen, Balmain, Junya Watanabe, and Tom Ford at Saint Laurent have all built collections around shape over the past twenty-five years.
What is different now is the styling. Previous revivals wore militaria straight; the current one deliberately undercuts it with softness, cutouts and shine — the same logic reshaping the new maximalism of 2026 and running through Anderson’s Dior work.
Why a Festival Stage Confirms a Trend Faster Than a Runway
A runway proposes. A stage proves. That distinction decides which forecasts survive.
Festival fashion trends move on a different clock to editorial ones. Forty thousand people see the look live, thousands more film it, and the crowd wears its own version back within days.
Victoria Park, London, is unusually well-placed for that feedback loop. All Points East 2026 lineup dates run from August 21 to August 30, so a look landing on day two circulates through nine more days of attendees.
The PinkPantheress outfit also travels because it is easy to copy. A cropped military jacket exists at every price point, which means the trend can spread without anyone needing access to a showroom.
What Comes Next
Six ticketed days remain at Victoria Park. Expect more military silhouettes on stage and considerably more in the crowd as the week continues.
Watch the high street next. Cropped military jackets are cheap to manufacture and quick to turn around, so mid-market versions typically appear within three to four weeks of a moment this visible.
The real test arrives in September. If militaria survives the fashion month collections in New York, London, Milan and Paris, it becomes a genuine season rather than a summer. Follow the season’s celebrity style shifts at Runway Magazine.
