Designers Plan A Return To Physical Show Formats During London Fashion Week

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Burberry ready to wear Fall 2020.

LONDON, UK — More then 30 designers and brand will stage a physically shows during London Fashion Week.

Brands including Christopher Kane, Erdem, Roksanda, Victoria Beckham, Molly Goddard, Osman and Simone Rocha — are proclaiming as they plan live shows, events or personal appointments to showcase their latest collections later this month.

The British Fashion Council plans to publish the provisional calendar for this most unusual of seasons, and it features a mix of catwalk and salon shows, one-on-one appointments, live evening events and a host of digital presentations and activations.

This season, the BFC isn’t even referring to the showcase as “spring 2021,” but rather as “London Fashion Week September 2020” to reflect the wide variety of men’s, women’s and coed collections that will be on offer — much of it season-less — given the order cancellations and manufacturing delays that designers have had to endure since the worldwide spread of the coronavirus and the lockdown began in March.

The showcase, which runs from Sept. 17 to 22, will also be gender-neutral — similar to the all-digital London Fashion Week that took place in June.

Last June 2020, D.M. Fashion Book reported that Riccardo Tisci‘s Burberry will stage an outdoor show on September 17 to kick off LFW (see it here). Richard Quinn will close the week with a film airing at 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 22, while Erdem will be doing appointments all that day.

The BFC said all live events will adhere to government guidelines on social distancing and hygiene.

The latest London schedule will host more than 80 designers, including 40 women’s wear names, 15 men’s wear ones, 20 coed labels and five accessories brands. There will be 50 digital-only activations, 21 physical and digital presentations and seven physical-only ones, while three designers will be staging physical evening events.

The online platform that launched during the June shows, londonfashionweek.co.uk, will continue to serve as the official digital hub for LFW in September and will be open to the public. The hub will host exclusive multimedia content from designers and brand partners, “enabling collaboration and bringing together fashion, culture and technology,” according to the BFC.

Designers will also be loading the LFW site with brand content, while JD.com and LFW ambassador Hu Bing plan to create films spotlighting three key British brands that have flagships on JD.com, and consumers will be able to shop those designers’ collections through the site.

In addition to Kane, Roksanda, Erdem, Beckham, Goddard, Osman, Rocha and Choi, designers and brands planning physical events this season include Bethany Williams, David Koma, Edeline Lee, Emilia Wickstead, Halpern, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi and Temperley London. Other names, including JW Anderson, Bianca Saunders, Edward Crutchley, Hillier Bartley, Phoebe English, Stephen Jones Millinery and Vivienne Westwood will present their collections digitally.

The BFC said that, for a second season, it will be working with Joor to provide digital wholesale sales services for designers.

IBM has joined LFW as an official partner, helping to optimize the digital experience and enable designers to showcase their stories through multimedia content.

Burberry Menswear Fall 2020.

Photos Credit: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

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Donovan

Donovan is the CEO and Editor-In-Chief of www.dmfashionbook.com. For all general inquiries please email don@dmfashionbook.com Donovan has a BA in Journalism & Media Studies from the prestigious Rutgers University. He's currently studying entertainment and fashion law.