God save London

London fashion week (Lfw) starts today amidst lights and shadows. A start delayed by a month, probably due to the tail of the pandemic, since (as anticipated by MFF of November 26, 2021), for the first time in a decade since its foundation in June 2012, Men’s London fashion week was not held last January. The five-day showcase starting today sees a mix of emerging designers to more established brands. Thus, Monday will see the digital presence of the queen of Brit fashion, Vivienne Westwood, who previewed one of her looks for this MFF cover. "With 129 confirmed designers and attendees and 37 fashion shows, we are delighted to be back with a largely physical calendar that will involve the city even more this year," Caroline Rush, ceo of the British fashion council (Bfc), explained. A manager’s enthusiasm is a must, but it should be noted that many of the UK capital's super big names are missing from the schedule, from Burberry to Victoria Beckham and JW Anderson. While Alexander McQueen (who has been putting on fashion shows in Paris for years, ed.), who held an off-calendar show with Naomi Campbell in London last October, recently announced that he will have a show on March 15 in New York (see MFF of February 9).

Between the effects of Covid, which negatively impacted retail sales, and the weight of 13 months of Brexit, the British fashion industry has certainly not experienced easy times over the past 18 months. According to Oxford Economics data released by the BFC, the UK fashion industry directly contributed 35 billion pounds (approximately 41.8 billion euros) to the UK's pre-pandemic GDP, with around 900,000 people employed in the sector. The supply chain and logistics have experienced significant difficulties due to Brexit, while the increase in energy costs, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), could push inflation up to 8% between March and April, a figure that would bring back to economic scenarios experienced during the time of Margaret Thatcher, in the 80s. London, however, keeps a steady hand even in the storm of this economic situation and returns to highlight emerging designers, such as Conner Ives, who uses vintage and dead-stock materials in his collection, the winner of the 2021 LVMH Prize Nensi Dojaka or Matty Bovan, who won the International Woolmark Prize last year.

Sticking with the new kids on the block, the On|Off talent support program, which in the past supported designers such as Gareth Pugh, Christopher Raeburn, JW Anderson and Robert Wun, is celebrating 20 years. The young designer Jack Irving will be in the spotlight, presenting his collection of clothes both digitally, through the metaverse, and physically with a fashion show today. Irving, who started his career as a set and costume designer, has attracted celebrity fans including Lady Gaga and Paris Hilton and the speaker technology company Rubyoung commissioned him to create a model that will soon be on sale at Selfridges, while unveiling a series of NFTs. The metaverse will also see the incursion of the designer Roksanda through a partnership with Clearpay, the main sponsor of the LFW. Talking about numbers, the BFC has worked in the last months to sensitize Boris Johnson's cabinet to support Brit fashion. According to an Oxford Economics report presented by Caroline Rush to Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, the impact of Covid-19 could be twice as hard on the fashion industry than on the economy as a whole (see MFF of March 4, 2021).

In light of this, a call to the government followed, "A collective action is required to ensure the recovery and positive growth of the industry with the understanding that there are many businesses and workers not being covered by the government's support measures". The BFC also made proposals addressing the peculiarities of fashion industry. Speaking from Paris to MFF on the sidelines of his men’s fashion show (see MFF of January 21), Sir Paul Smith had explained, "Brexit seriously slowed us down in the first months. We have not solved all our problems yet, but we manage. The last wave of Omicron did not help us, but I stay optimistic". As in London's Mary Poppins, maybe it is just about waiting for the wind to change and staying at the window to see if in June and September an air of return to the future will be actually there, with the energy that London saw in more than one season. Maybe with the unavoidable return of Riccardo Tisci with Burberry. Who knows, maybe even Sarah Burton with Alexander McQueen. After all, you can dream. God save London. (All rights reserved)