London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing

trade show A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and ...

that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four'

fashion week A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, where fashion designers, brands or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media. These events influence the upcoming fashi ...

s, along with the

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and

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History and Organisation

Organised by the British Fashion Council (BFC) for the London Development Agency with help from the

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, London Fashion Week first took place in October 1983. It currently ranks alongside New York, Paris and Milan as one of the 'Big Four'

s. It presents itself to funders as a trade event that also attracts significant press attention and benefit to taxpayers. It states that it is attended by over 5,000 press and buyers, and has estimated orders of over £100 million. A retail-focused event, London Fashion Week Festival, takes place immediately afterwards at the same venue and is open to the general public. On-schedule events used to take place either at the British Fashion Council's own show space, 180 Strand, or at external locations around

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. During SS16 (shown September 2015) and AW16 (shown February 2016), British Fashion Council made the decision to host the designers' showrooms to the 'Vinyl Factory', situated at the active car park in Soho, off Brewer Street. Following increasing numbers of anti-fur protesters, the London Fashion Week held in September 2018 was the first major fashion week to be fur-free.

Events

Live Streaming

In spring 2010, London Fashion Week became the first of the Big four fashion weeks to offer designers showing collections on the catwalk at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

the opportunity to broadcast their shows live on the Internet.

London Fashion Week Men's

In June 2012, London introduced London Collections: Men, in addition to the collections shows in spring / summer and autumn / winter. Since its first instalment, the showcase has grown by 67% and included 77 separate designers in June 2015. London Collections: Men was renamed from the Autumn/Winter 2017 season as London Fashion Week Men's, to help better reflect the growing consumer focus of the event.

London Fashion Week Festival

Following London Fashion Week each season, the 4-day London Fashion Week Festival (LFWF), formerly known as London Fashion Weekend, offers a consumer-orientated fashion week experience. Held at The Store Studios, 180 The Strand, LFWF allows consumers to shop a curated edit of designer collections at show exclusive prices, sit front row at catwalk shows by London Fashion Week designers, get a head start on the key trends of the coming season and listen to talks by industry experts.

References

External links

London Fashion Week Official websiteLondon Fashion Film Festival
{{Big 4 Fashion Weeks Fashion events in England Annual events in London English fashion Recurring events established in 1984 1984 establishments in England Fashion weeks