Fashion Week changes are underway across the pond. The British Fashion Council (BFC) announced it will move London Fashion Week to The Store Studios, where LFW Men’s already takes place, with the idea to create a “fashion and cultural hub” at the center of London. Plus, London Fashion Weekend has been renamed London Fashion Week Festival and will become more integrated with LFW. The BFC hopes the rebranding will increase consumer engagement with designers, and has plans for digital engagement at events and a ticketed event at The Store Studios, 180 Strand, that gives consumers access to catwalk shows, talks, and a unique shopping experience where designers and their teams host curated pop-up shops from over 150 brands.
“There is an increasingly big appetite from both brands and public to open up our industry to a wider audience,” said Caroline Rush, CBE and BFC chief executive, in a press statement. “We saw this in September with the see-now-buy-now collections. The BFC has always encouraged this kind of innovation while making sure that our showcasing platforms remain strong opportunities for the designers to present their work to the industry.
“London Fashion Week Festival is a natural continuation of the increasingly popular London Fashion Weekend,” she added. “Housing the Festival at The Store Studios will reinforce the importance of offering direct to consumer experiences and insights into the fashion industry and there will be a lot of different ways for the public and businesses to get involved.”
The Store Studios in the past have hosted the Louis Vuitton Series 3 exhibition, and the Christopher Kane, Roksanda, and Thomas Tait runway shows. Tickets for The London Fashion Week Festival go on sale November 1, and can be purchased here.
