Why London Fashion Week Beats The Competition
More over-the-top than Paris, more experimental than Milan, and more exciting than New York, London Fashion Week is bigger and better than ever. It might be the youngest of the Big Four, but it’s carved out a unique space that has seen it become the event of the year in the fashion industry. How did it go from underdog to the defining showcase of fashion design? The answer to that is in its roots and its approach to the industry. As it continues to adapt to an ever-changing world, London Fashion Week is beating its competition in more ways than one.
Designers at London Fashion Week
From a launch in 1984 that saw Vivienne Westwood designs and the debut of John Galliano, London Fashion Week has always been about showcasing new talent. Unlike Milan Fashion Week, which has become far too predictable with its focus on commercial brand names like Armani and Gucci, London has always invited young, graduate designers to show off what they can do. Milan is trying to change things, but it is still moving very slowly. This has given London Fashion Week a creative vibrancy that other fashion events have largely failed to emulate. The London show is always loud and over the top and a far cry from the staid, predictable names that you see at New York Fashion Week.
Battling Paris
Unlike London and Milan, Paris has always invited international designers. In recent years, it has expanded those invites even more, and the results have returned it to its former glory. Of course, fashion and Paris are synonymous, but it still lacks much of the luster of its glory years. This is evidenced by its lower attendance figures. According to research carried out by Online Casino Betway, London Fashion Week has attendance figures of around 105,000. Paris doesn’t even come close, with only 30,000. Of course, Milan fares even worse with just 22,500 average visitors to its once vital fashion week. New York continues to dominate in audience figures and profitability, although the steady decline is starting to show there too.
Creating Careers
Philip Treacy, who caused controversy with a topless Naomi Campbell at his debut in 1993, went on to win the British Accessory Designer of the Year an impressive five times. Alexander McQueen won the British Designer of the Year four times. Simone Rocha, who debuted in 2010, won the Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2016. What the London Fashion Week does best is lift up designers who would never get through the doors of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (a large reason why the New York event has dwindled). By taking those young and hungry designers and allowing them to show off what they can do, London has always been able to remain loud, brash, and creatively energetic. It gives those designers a way to build their careers and become household names.
London Fashion Week beats the competition because it changes with the times, and it is always on the lookout for the next big thing. Unlike New York and Milan, which have become stale and tired, it’s never the same from year to year. As Paris struggles with audience figures (and to remain relevant), London Fashion Week is now the fashion event to watch.
