London Fashion Week starts today, with some extra excitement for this season’s visitors. 3 widely popular high fashion brands are showing their collections in London either for the first time, or after a really long time.
Moreover, the much-awaited debut of the International Fashion Showcase inaugurates a new era in fashion cultural exchange through hosting the work of designers from as far away as the Caribbean or Japan.
Italian label Moschino Cheap & Chic makes its LFW debut with the autumn/winter 2012 collection on February 18, while the Moschino main line collection will show during Milan Fashion Week, as usual.
McQ will also showcase its autumn/winter 2012 collection with a catwalk show in London for the first time since its launch. Next comes Stella McCartney, who will host a special fashion presentation on the evening of February 18th. The one-off collection of Stella will be available through the designer’s retail stores, her website stellamccartney.com and selected wholesale accounts worldwide starting May 2012*.
But the excitment doesn’t stop here.
London Fashion Week inaugurates today the launch of an International Fashion Showcase, where 19 embassies and cultural institutes around the capital will display the work of over 80 international emerging designers, available to view by the press, buyers and the public.
Participating countries are Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Caribbean, China, Croatia, Estonia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Sierra Leone, United States and Uzbekistan and each country has been asked to present a selection of emerging designers whom they feel represents the future of fashion in their region. An advisory panel, chaired by Sarah Mower, will judge each piece of work and award the country that presents the best up-and-coming fashion talent, with the winner revealed on February 19.
The project marks the first time that the British Fashion Council collaborates with the British Council and it has been developed to celebrate the year of the Olympics and Paralympics and “honour its values of international respect, excellence, equality and friendship”.
*The Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney main line collections will continue to show at Paris Fashion Week.
