London Fashion Week
London Fashion Week is an apparel trade show held in London twice each year, in February and September. It is one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks, along with New York Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.
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Organization [edit]
Organised by the British Fashion Council (BFC) for the London Development Agency with help from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, London Fashion Week first took place in 1984. It currently ranks alongside New York, Paris and Milan as one of the 'Big Four' fashion weeks.[1] It presents itself to funders[2] as a trade event that also attracts significant press attention and benefit to taxpayers. It is also able to get an official sponsorship from Mercedes-Benz,[3] a worldwide known automobile brand and global hairdressing company Toni & Guy. It states that it is attended by over 5,000 press and buyers, and has estimated orders of £40m[4] or £100m.[5] A retail-focused event, London Fashion Weekend, takes place immediately afterwards at the same venue and is open to the general public.[6]
The current venue for most of the "on-schedule" events is Somerset House in central London, where a large marquee in the central courtyard hosts a series of catwalk shows by top designers and fashion houses,[7] while an exhibition, housed within Somerset House itself, shows over 150 designers.[8] However, many "off-schedule" events, such as Vauxhall Fashion Scout and On|Off, are organised by other private-funded groups and take place at other venues in central London.[9]
Model health enquiry [edit]
The Model Health Enquiry,[10] backed by London Assembly members and the Mayor's threat to withdraw funding, recommended vetting of models.
Live video stream [edit]
In spring 2010, London Fashion Week became the first major fashion week to fully embrace digital media when it offered all designers who were showing their collections on the catwalk at Somerset House the opportunity to broadcast their shows live on the Internet.[11] The video stream can be seen on London Fashion Week's website.
Men's Collections [edit]
In summer 2012, London for the first time introduced Men's Collections, in addition to the collections shows in spring / summer and autumn / winter.
References [edit]
- ^ "British Fashion Council website". Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "Agreement for Funding Relative to Creative Sector Support - Designer Fashion. Parties: LDA/BFC website". Retrieved 2010-06-07.
- ^ "London Fashion Week Official Sponsors".
- ^ Caroline Rush. "Record Figures for London Fashion Week". Crush Communications. Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "London Fashion Week factsheet". Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "London Fashion Weekend website". Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "London Evening Standard article". Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "London Fashion Week website". Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "Arts London website". Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ "Model Health Enquiry Website". Retrieved 2010-03-10.
- ^ Rice, Simon (2010-02-19). "Independent newspaper article". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2010-03-10.
