It’s the fashion industry’s most elite event. London Fashion Week has long been an industry facing showcase where the world’s media, the best buyers from international stores and celebrity faces gather to peruse next season’s most fantastical creations. This is where trends are born and the next batch of must-haves decided. Although, that should read was… While London Fashion Week is still live and kicking and starts on Friday, running through to Tuesday, this time round the only gathering will be online. Instead of ticketed shows that you needed to request an invite to (and be important enough to receive one back) anyone can watch shows online from the LFW hub.
Covid-19 has been a tragic force over the past twelve months but it has left a positive impact too. The enforced time apart has pushed creativity to it’s boundaries and while we can’t get together in person and sit bum-cheek-to-bum-cheek on hard benches, fashion week’s new egalitarian approach means new season style is accessible for all to watch and shop right now. Long before the pandemic, it became clear that consumers were getting bored of waiting six months for something they saw on the catwalk (or on Insta) to arrive in the shops and be available to buy.
The biggest shows to attend – and those with the starriest front rows and super model catwalkers – always included Burberry and Victoria Beckham. For the Autumn / Winter 2021 collections which are coming from Friday, this has totally changed. All the labels are now focusing on showcasing digitally… whether that’s a traditional catwalk show, without an audience; recording a movie-style film; creating a cartoon or releasing a still lookbook shoot. The buzz of a live audience is gone but true fashion fans are still excited to see the newest collections first. In particular, we can’t wait to see what Preen, Simone Rocha and Roksanda reveal.
As we’re not ricocheting from catwalk to catwalk IRL there is also more time to think about the future of fashion. The Positive Fashion initiative is discussing issues including diversity, clarity of supply chains, ethics, sustainability and responsibility with names including Marques’Almeida, Ahluwalia and Bethany Williams sharing their experiences, thoughts and inspirational moodboards.
You can even shop the collections through each designers’ tab on the main page. If you’re in the market for a little wardrobe refresher, as we move into Spring (it’s coming, promise!) any of the independent designers featured would be a worthy recipient of your hard earned cash.
And because fashion doesn’t end with the clothes you wear, visit the Sounds page for curated playlists and a schedule of podcasts that will ensure even your listening material is truly on-trend. We will see you there, from our sofas…
