The British Fashion Council (BFC) today announces that the next edition of London Fashion Week will take place from Friday 19th to Tuesday 23rd February 2021 with menswear designers being encouraged to take part in the February event. London Fashion Week will run as a digital first event onwww.londonfashionweek.co.uk with scaled back physical activations. The BFC is in constant communication with the Government to understand guidelines and restrictions.
The decision to move the traditional menswear showcase from January to February in 2021 was made in light of the current environment surrounding Covid-19, challenges around the movement of goods, samples and people in the single market and customs union post Brexit, and following surveys and roundtables with designers, as well as conversations with sales showrooms regarding selling periods. The BFC is committed to support British menswear designer businesses to show and sell their collections and will work with them on finding the best solutions to enable them to share sales materials with international buyers ahead of the February shows. The organisation will work on a sales focused campaign aimed at the industry through January 2021, using the London Fashion Week platform to drive reach to the designers’ online showrooms and physical sales contacts.
Dylan Jones, BFC Menswear Chair said: “When we launched London Collections: Men in June 2012, which then became London Fashion Week Men’s, we were responding to an industry need and to the necessity to have a platform for our brilliant British menswear designers from emerging talent to Savile Row tailoring. A lot has changed since then, and this year’s pandemic made us all rethink the current system in place. We are confident that this move will help designers reach more people via the digital LFW platform, while still allowing them to do business as early as January without the deadline of a show.”
Caroline Rush, BFC Chief Executive commented: “As the fashion industry moves towards a more sustainable and responsible future in line with the newly formed Institute of Positive Fashion, our aim is to continue to redefine our fashion week model, embracing digital and technological innovation while offering ideas and solutions that will work for all designer businesses. Moving LFWM into LFW in February will continue to degender LFW, allow designers greater flexibility to consider what collection they show when and minimise travel requirements, taking us one step closer to a more sustainable future.”
The LFW digital platform is a year-round platform and is constantly updated for retailers, media and consumers to view and buy collections. The platform will continue to serve as the Official Digital Hub and will be freely accessible to everyone, industry professionals and global fashion consumers alike, enabling collaboration and bringing together fashion, culture and technology. As the British Fashion Council and London Fashion Week continue to look at the future and the opportunity to change, collaborate and innovate, all of London’s Fashion Weeks will be open to all genders and th rd th th th st seasons, which for 2021 will be February (19 – 23 ), June (11 – 14 ) and September (17 – 21 ).
London Fashion Week January 2022 will be reviewed next year. The generosity and commitment of our partners is more vital than ever. Please help us by acknowledging their support for London Fashion Week. Official Partners: British GQ, Evening Standard, FASHION ZOO, IBM, JD.COM, INC, JOOR, LAVAZZA, Mercedes-Benz, TONI&GUY, Vanish. Official Suppliers: Fashion & Beauty Monitor, Getty Images, Launchmetrics, The May Fair Hotel. Official Supporters: The Department for International Trade, The European Regional Development Fund and The Mayor of London.
ABOUT BRITISH FASHION COUNCIL
The British Fashion Council (BFC) was set up in 1983 to promote British fashion internationally and co-ordinate this promotion through fashion weeks, exhibitions and showcasing events. BFC now supports designers beginning at college level and extending to talent identification, business support and showcasing schemes. The BFC promotes British fashion and its influential role at home and abroad, helping British designer businesses develop their profiles and business globally. BFC Foundation (Registered Charity Number: 11852152) was created for charitable purposes and grant giving; attracting, developing and retaining talent through education and business mentoring. BFC Colleges Council offers support to students through BA and MA scholarships and links with industry through design competitions and Graduate Preview Day. Through grant-giving and business mentoring the BFC support designers through four talent identification and business support schemes: BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund, NEWGEN which includes womenswear, menswear and accessories, and the BFC Fashion Trust, a charity supporting UK based designers.
Special Tkanks to British Fashion Council.
#LFW #POSITIVEFASHION
Londonfashionweek.co.uk