This morning, the British Fashion Council announced for the next 12 months London Fashion Weeks will combine mens- and womenswear, with the next one in June taking place online
Last month, the British Fashion Council announced that London Fashion Week Men’s – which usually takes place in June – would be cancelled, due to the outbreak of Covid-19. At the time, they said they were looking for “new ways [for designers] to digitalise their fashion showcase platforms”.
This morning, the BFC has announced its plan: for the next 12 months all London Fashion Weeks will go gender neutral, merging womenswear and menswear into a single platform “to allow designers greater flexibility”. For this coming June, it will unsurprisingly move online, running as a digital-only platform which will take place from June 12 across the weekend.
Running on London Fashion Week’s website – www.londonfashionweek.co.uk – the event will be available for both those who work inside the industry and those who don’t, promising to embrace “the cultural commentary, creativity and humorous spirit for which British fashion and London are known for” and “give a voice to British fashion businesses and creatives, allowing them to tell their stories in these extraordinary times”.
Although the full details are yet to be disclosed, the BFC has promised a raft of ways for designers to tell their stories digitally – from interviews, podcasts and designer diaries, to webinars and digital showrooms. The latter will allow for designers to generate sales from both retailers and shoppers at home.
“It is essential to look at the future and the opportunity to change, collaborate and innovate,” said Caroline Rush CBE, BFC chief executive this morning. “Many of our businesses have always embraced London Fashion Week as a platform for not just fashion but for its influence on society, identity and culture. The current pandemic is leading us all to reflect more poignantly on the society we live in and how we want to live our lives and build businesses when we get through this.
“The other side of this crisis, we hope will be about sustainability, creativity and product that you value, respect, cherish,” she continued. “[For now], designers will be able to share their stories, and for those that have them, their collections, with a wider global community; we hope that as well as personal perspectives on this difficult time, there will be inspiration in bucketloads. It is what British fashion is known for.”
Stay tuned to London Fashion Week’s website to find out more.