Take YOUR front-row seat at London Fashion Week!
The pandemic’s put paid to the parties and gilt-edged invitations. But in their place are dazzling digital shows EVERYONE can be part of...
TOMORROW, supermodel Kendall Jenner is expected to put her shapely best foot forward to open Burberry’s digital fashion show, broadcast live from the Yorkshire countryside.
Heralding the official start of London Fashion Week (LFW), that small step by the American model will mark a giant leap for the fashion industry. This is, after all, the fashion week we feared might never happen.
Some might argue it is brave — mad even — to go ahead during a pandemic. But the alternative — to deny designers from Ireland, England and beyond this annual fashion bonanza — could be far worse. After all, the twice-yearly showcase is an integral part of the fashion sector, which has already been decimated by the effects of Covid-19 on the economy.
In March, fashion shows, along with life as we knew it, stopped. From shop closures on the High Street to travel bans, a massive fall in spending from tourists and touch-free photoshoots requiring masked and gloved make-up artists, the nature of the fashion industry means that almost no aspect has been left untouched by coronavirus.
Consumers have undergone a massive shift in shopping habits, ditching suits and heels for more casual outfits to work from home.
Against this backdrop, a long list of designers will from tomorrow, introduce their latest work to international Press, buyers and, in a huge change for the industry, you, the general public. Signalling the upheaval under way, this new LFW will be open to all as never before.
Gone are the days of gilt-edged invitations and fashion editors elbowing their way to the ‘frow’ (front row). In this brave new world, digital presentations — think catwalk shows that are streamed live online — are the new normal. And everyone’s invited (digitally, at least).
From Thursday until next Tuesday, anyone can access the official LFW hub (london fashionweek.co.uk), which will be hosting exclusive multimedia content.
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HILE physical audiences will be much reduced, more people than ever before will virtually explore the designers’ work.
You may already consume some of your fashion information from brands posting online, or influencers showing their outfits on Instagram. These channels of conversation help ping fashion trends around the world — and, in tandem, bring in orders from all four corners of the globe.
Because, for all the glamour and spectacle, fashion shows are actually all about those lucrative orders. Around €100 million is usually placed during LFW each season from industry buyers shopping for designer stock for high-end department stores, boutiques and fashion websites.
But what really fills the coffers are the more affordable makeup, fragrance and accessories snapped up by the rest of us. And it’s trendsetting fashion weeks that help shift them. So what can we expect? GQ editor Dylan Jones is Menswear Chair of the British Fashion Council (BFC), the official industry body that organises LFW. He explains the line-up will be a combination of virtual, physical and ‘phygital’ (a bit of both) events by 80 designers — Vivienne Westwood, milliner Stephen Jones, Roksanda Ilincic and Molly Goddard.
Most (around 50 including our own Paul Costelloe) will be digital-only. Nonetheless, five key designers (Burberry, Victoria Beckham, Molly Goddard, Osman and Eudon Choi) are planning smaller ‘salon’ shows, some livestreamed.
They will look and feel different — the opening virtual show from Burberry, one of the biggest brands to show at LFW, will have no audience; others will see VIPs seated two metres apart.
Because the scaled-down show format cannot deliver the usual ‘wow factor’ many, including Victoria Beckham, have created digital films to dazzle, too. Other designers are offering more intimate one-to-one showroom appointments to present to small fashion teams.
‘Adigital presentation is like a short film, and it’s something we’ve never done before. So it’s a learning curve for sure,’ says designer Paul Costelloe. ‘Designers will be able to access global audiences easier this way,’ he admits of his virtual show, which will be streaming live to the world at 11.30am on Friday.’
He is also conducting a live “salon atelier” for selected clients too.
‘We’ll have models bringing in the rails and have the worktable and sewing machines set up, with the reels of fabrics used to make the pieces from the collection.’
This all comes in stark contrast to the usual 50 to 100 shows staged over six days during LFW,