London - The capital city is set to transform itself into a fashion parade as the Spring/Summer 2018 womenswear ready-to-wear catwalk season kicks off today Friday, September 15, 2017. Marking the 66th edition of London Fashion Week (LFW), the bi-annual fashion event is set to welcome over 5,000 guests from more than 70 countries across five days of catwalk shows, presentations, and events.
Running to Tuesday, September 19, this season sees the British Fashion Council return to its central hub at The Store Studios, 180 Strand once more, which is set to feature 150 designers in the Designer Showrooms as well as the BFC Show and Presentation Space. LFW will see 85 catwalk shows and presentations take place on schedule in addition to 33 events from emerging fashion talents to global brands. Newcomers to LFW this season include Emporio Armani, whose show coincides with the re-launch of their London flagship stores, Tommy Hilfiger with his See-Now, Buy-Now collection and British fashion house Ralph & Russo, who will present its first ever ready to wear collection
Other fashion houses and celebrated British designers returning to show at London Fashion Week once more include Burberry, who will present their new collection on Saturday instead of Monday, House of Holland, J.W Anderson, Simone Rocha, Anya Hindmarch, Chalayan, Charlotte Olympia, Christopher Kane, Roksanda, Roland Mouret, Sophia Webster and Temperley London, who will all present on schedule. Emerging womenswear talents showing under the BFC’s NEWGEN initiative include Paula Knorr, Marta Jakubowski, and Molly Goddard, who has been highlighted as LFW most successful up and coming designer on Instagram by Iconosqaure.
There is no doubt the fashion industry remains an integral part of the UK’s economy, in spite of concerns over a hard Brexit. Data from FashionUnited shows that the UK’s 66 billion pound fashion industry accounts for 6 percent of the UK’s market, highlight the industry’s importance. Women's wear, in particular, continues to be a vital aspect of the UK fashion market, as sales grew 1.3 percent to 27.25 billion pounds in 2016 and are predicted to rise to hit 28.77 billion pounds in 2012 according to Mintel. As London Fashion Week SS18 opens, we share a number of key facts and figures from the biannual event and the UK’s fashion industry below.
Insider’s data scoop on London Fashion Week SS18
- Over 5,000 guests will attend LFW SS18 from international press to buyers, broadcasters, influencers and industry insiders from over 70 countries
- Total income generated by LFW in 2016 was 269 million pounds
- £28 billion direct contribution to the UK economy (GDP) from the UK fashion industry, up from £26 billion in 2013 (Oxford Economics, 2014)
- £27 billion worth of womenswear (RTW) sales in the UK in 2015. This figure is predicted to grow 23% by 2020 to £32 billion (Mintel, 2016)
- Over £1million worth of pro-bono support provided to BFC designers by BFC Fashion Network partners and mentors with over 10,000 hours of support provided in 2016
- £700,000 raised by The Fashion Awards 2016 and donated to the BFC Education Foundation and given to support NEWGEN, Business Support and the BFC Colleges Council
- £300,000 pledged by Swarovski to the BFC Education Foundation in advance of The Fashion Awards
- 45,000 images shot by Getty photographers on and off the runway over five days
- 32,000 miles driven between shows by a luxurious fleet of fuel efficient chauffeured Mercedes-Benz cars
- £20,000 to be awarded for the DHL International Fashion Potential Award during LFW
- 3,571 units of label.m products used backstage each season across 40 shows
- 890 New Look store windows internationally featuring the LFW logo including the UK, France, Poland, China and the Middle East.
Oscar de la Renta
