The London Fashion Week Line-Up Is Here – And There Will Be Physical Shows

September usually heralds the presentation of the spring/summer collections for the year ahead, involving another round of international dashes, overnight stopovers and a string of glamorous red-carpet events. This year, of course, is a little different: as the coronavirus has taken hold, many designers and labels have come to the conclusion that physical shows are a thing of the past – at least for now.

So it was with some anticipation that we scanned the schedule for London Fashion Week, released on 4 September by the British Fashion Council. Will physical shows be taking place? Yes, albeit in small number. London Fashion Week will will run as a series of gender-neutral presentations – both virtual and physical – between Thursday 17 September and Tuesday 22 September. It is set to host 80 designers overall, with 50 digital-only activations, 21 physical and digital, seven physical only and three designers hosting physical evening events only.

Burberry will commence proceedings with a livestream of a physical presentation – exact details still TBC – on 17 September, followed by designers Eudon Choi, Molly Goddard and Victoria Beckham, who will return to the schedule with salon shows and presentations for small numbers of press, buyers and influencers. 

Meanwhile brands including Christopher Kane, David Koma, Edeline Lee, Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, Halpern, Margaret Howell, Paul Costelloe, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, Roksanda, Sharon Wauchob, Simone Rocha, Supriya Lele, Temperley London and Toga will present their new collections by invitation-only appointments. And 16 Arlington, Art School, Bianca Saunders, Charlotte Knowles, Eftychia, JW Anderson, Liam Hodges, Luna Del Pinal, Lupe Gajardo, Marques Almeida, Matty Bovan, Phoebe English, Richard Malone, Richard Quinn, Robyn Lynch and Vivienne Westwood are among those who have favoured digital formats which will be hosted on the LondonFashionWeek.co.uk digital platform.

Charles Jeffrey was among a handful of designers who tried and tested the London Fashion Week digital hub in June, when he dedicated his Loverboy livestream to multi-disciplinary Black creatives, including Miss Jason, Malik Nashad Sharpe and designers Catherine Hudson and Halina Edwards, whom Jeffrey taught at the University of Westminster. Reaction to the purely digital line-up of shows was, however, mixed: as Vogue fashion critic Anders Christian Madsen reported: “Some are calling for a reimagining of fashion’s cycle and presentation formats, but while the industry will do anything to support its designers, it’s undeniable that fashion requires human interaction.”

London follows in the footsteps of New York Fashion Week, which is set to host its first purely digital offering: all of the presentations on the CFDA’s official line-up will be digital. One positive to all this? In contrast to invite-only events and exclusive previews, this year’s September shows will be more accessible than ever to the general public and diehard fashion fans. That should not be underestimated: having been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis, the industry, which contributed £35 billion to the UK economy in 2019 and employs 890,000 people, according to a study conducted in 2020 by Oxford Economics, needs all the exposure it can get.