The world is still coming to grips with New York Fashion Week, which was even more packed with innovations than expected, but it is time to look ahead once more to London Fashion Week. The pace is blistering and technology is staying at least one medium ahead of everyone, it seems. By the time London steps into the spotlight, our collective notions about seasons and trends may have already been forever altered.
Against a backdrop of general uncertainty and anxiety, there’s also Brexit to contend with but the institution that is London Fashion Week (LFW) has declared itself firmly open for business. The notices have been going out to every news service that will transmit them, including ourselves. In an unrelated move, we also received notice that Brexit fallout continues, with David Cameron stepping down as MP. Given that Cameron is hardly an important figure in fashion circles, this news will likely not be a distraction…hopefully.
LFW will have a torrid time as it is, getting ready to welcome more than 5,000 guests from 58 countries and 83 major designers scheduled for 64th edition of the extravaganza.
Figures released in June show that the British fashion industry’s national worth has grown by 8% since 2013, now totaling £28 billion (about $37 billion), and LFW is capitalizing on the strength of the sector with an event that will focus on change and innovation (the same keywords, as we noted, so prominently on show right now in New York).
When it comes to those keywords, as it applies to London Fashion Week, all eyes will surely be on the UK house of Burberry as it shows its menswear and womenswear collections together for the first time, with the pieces available to buy directly afterwards.
The label, headed by Christopher Bailey, isn’t the only major player here to embrace this change. Reports have it that Fyodor Golan, House of Holland and Topshop Unique will also be showing see-now buy-now collections. Meanwhile, Aquascutum, Belstaff, Joseph and this year’s Woolmark Womenswear winner Teatum Jones will also put menswear and womenswear together on the catwalk.
In addition to the official catwalk schedule, the SS17 edition of LFW will also feature more than 150 labels presenting in the Designer Showrooms at Brewer Street Car Park. International brands MM6 and Versus return to the city, while Huishan Zhang, Molly Goddard and the aforementioned Teatum Jones will all be showing on catwalks for the first time. This year, LFW intends to become more UKFW, with 20 Ocean Outdoor screens across Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle broadcasting LFW content. Given the way this content will be infiltrating people’s mobile phones, this move seems largely anachronistic, reflecting perhaps our earlier point about technology staying one step ahead of the trends themselves…
LFW runs September 16-20. For more information see www.londonfashionweek.co.uk
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