| Britain's top fashion designers are
showcasing next year's summer collections at London Fashion Week, beginning on Friday. More than 50 designers will hold catwalk shows at venues around London over
the next five days, a big step from five years ago when only 15 designers took part in the
event.
London's reputation as a centre for fashion excellence is growing
and this week promises to be a spectacular curtain-raiser for the new season before the
Paris and Milan shows.
 |
A silk and cotton
dress by Bibi Russell |
|
The week began on a serious note with
former model Bibi Russell's show in aid of UNESCO, which featured
materials produced by Bangladeshi rural workers. And during the course of the week, some home-grown favourites like
Alexander McQueen, Designer of the Year at the 1997 British Fashion Awards, and Vivienne
Westwood, Designer of the Year in 1990 and 1991, will be unveiling their latest creations.
Around 140 designers are also showing shoes, bags,
scarves and other accessories at the Natural History Museum, the headquarters of Fashion
Week. |
Famous names
Jasper Conran will be displaying his new
Spring-Summer 1999 collection in London, after a two year absence.
And Britain's most successful menswear designer,
Paul Smith - whose worldwide business is now worth £171m - will show his latest
collection of women's wear.
| Enfant terrible Hussein Chalayan, who
stunned the fashion world in 1993 with a display of garments made from decomposing
fabrics, will also be showing. And there are a few newcomers, like upcoming British designer Andrew
Groves, whose fabrics have included surgical latex and who once included a swarm of wasps
in a catwalk show.
Fashion conference
The week-long fashion spectacular was opened by the
Trade and Industry Secretary, Peter Mandelson who announced government plans to boost the
fashion industry. |
 |
A grey evening outfit
by Tomasz Starzewski |
|
These include a British Fashion Designer Conference,
sponsored by the DTI, and the British Fashion Council, which will be held in November.
It will explore how the industry can build on its
current international success, with particular focus on designers' access to finance, and
their relationship with manufacturers.
 |
| Kosuke Tsumurs's models walked among
wire cages |
|
"London Fashion Week is a
tremendous advertisement for the creativity of our fashion designers and the excellence of
fashion design education in the UK," Mr Mandelson said. "It is a very visual
expression of our talent for innovation." "The
size of this season's event is a mark of the show's international influence and the
respect in which it is held across the world," he added.
The industry currently comprises some 14,000 firms,
employs 350,000 people and is worth over £16bn a year. |
It is estimated that there are
around 200 designer companies, employing approximately 1,000 people, with wholesale sales
worth a value of £600m |
BBC News archive from London Fashion
week