With two weeks to go until London Fashion Week, the British Fashion Council has published the provisional calendar for the gender-neutral September 2020 showcase, which includes both digital activations as well as physical events.
The schedule features more than 80 designers including 40 womenswear, 15 menswear, 20 menswear and womenswear and 5 accessories brands. The majority, of which, are doing digital activations only, with designers including Vivienne Westwood, Matty Bovan and Edward Crutchley opting for digital film presentations, while Raeburn and Nabil El-Nayal are taking part in the British Fashion Council’s conversation series.
However, 30 designers and brands, including Victoria Beckham, Eudon Choi, Molly Goddard, Bora Aksu, Mark Fast, Osman, and Pronounce, are doing a catwalk, salon show or presentation. While others such as Christopher Kane, Erdem, Roksanda, Simone Rocha, Temperley London, Halpern, Emilia Wickstead, and Edeline Lee are to hold appointments, and Bethany Williams is to hold an exhibition.
In total, the British Fashion Council states that there will be 50 digital-only activations, 21 physical and digital, 7 physical only and 3 designers who will activate through a physical evening event only.
For the physical events, most of which are appointments, the British Fashion Council notes that they would adhere to Government guidelines on social distancing, however, no guidelines have been published yet. However, organisers told FashionUnited over e-mail that they are “working closely” with the Department of Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) on updates and guidance around producing fashion shows and events and that they “hope to be in a position to share these soon”.
In addition, there won’t be a centralised British Fashion Council hub this season, and therefore organisers will not be issuing any press passes. Brands with physical events will manage their own guest lists and invite editors and buyers directly.
30 London Fashion Week designers to stage physical showcases
The showcase, which is being referred to as September 2020, rather than spring/summer 2021 to reflect the variety of women’s, men’s and co-ed collections, will take place from September 17 to 22, and will kick off with Burberry’s livestreamed show, while the final day will close with physical appointments at Erdem and a fashion film by Richard Quinn on the digital schedule.
Once again London Fashion Week will have its own digital platform, which launched during the June shows, at londonfashionweek.co.uk, and that will serve as the official digital hub and will be open to the public. As well as hosting digital presentations and films from the designers, it will also feature exclusive multimedia content from designers and brand partners, “enabling collaboration and bringing together fashion, culture and technology,” added the British Fashion Council.
The digital hub will also house more than 170 additional designer profile pages with introductions to the brands, their latest work, their social media activity and with links to line sheets and contacts for sales and press requests.
In addition, the British Fashion Council added that they are working with Joor for a second season to provide a digital wholesale solution for designers. The Joor platform will host an LFW landing page with editorial categories for London show Rooms, menswear and womenswear.
London Fashion Week September 20 kicks off on September 17
While physical shows are on the schedule, this season will feel different, more localised, as many countries such as France, Spain, the US, China and Switzerland are currently on the UK quarantine list. Meaning that there will be less international editors and buyers, as travellers arriving from those countries would have to self-isolate for 14 days, as well as face restrictions when arriving back to their own countries.
However, people arriving from countries such as Italy, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and Denmark, can currently travel freely into the UK, but as we’ve seen over the past few months, those rules can change quickly, depending on regional rises in Covid-19 confirmed cases.
London Fashion Week will run from September 17 to 22.
Image: courtesy of Molly Goddard by Ben Broomfield
