London's Big Names Sign Up To Consumer Shows

Temperley London is one of the brands that will show at London Fashion Weekend

THE British Fashion Council is to host consumer fashion shows for the public over London Fashion Weekend this February, which takes place immediately after the London Fashion Week ready-to-wear shows finish.

Backstage at spring/summer 2016 Mary Katrantzou

Emilia Wickstead, Temperley London, Holly Fulton and Mary Katrantzou are the houses that have been selected to showcase their autumn/winter 2016 collections on the runway, which will happen two to four times per day, reports WWD, with each showing on a separate day. They follow in the footsteps of Christopher Raeburn, House of Holland, Issa and Peter Pilotto who took part in the four-day event in September.

Holly Fulton spring/summer 2016

The announcement comes at an interesting time for the industry as it looks to experiment with integrating the consumer more to capitalise on spending power. Earlier this month we reported that the CFDA had employed Boston Consulting Group and Alibaba to investigate various options to shake up the current fashion-show format and involve the customer more - the results of which are pending.

London Fashion Weekend is an obvious way for the BFC to explore the benefits of offering access to the public. Since it started, the ticketed event has offered attendees the chance to "explore the life of the fashion insider at this exclusive event, shop the best designer collections and speak to industry experts about their journey to the top", according to the organisers, and allows to BFC to draw a clear distinction between the official LFW which is a trade event.