Karine Laudort 
London Fashion Week (LFW) will take the new form of “a Netflix channel for fashion”, said spokesperson Clara Mercer. As an industry first, they are launching a digital three-day show globally abiding by social distancing rules. Their website will become a hotspot for livestreams, virtual catwalks, and performances. It is not only their first digital catwalk but also the first gender-neutral show, combining womenswear into Men’s Fashion Week. Launching today, this LFW show is not one to miss.
Following in Shanghai’s Digital Fashion Week’s footsteps, LFW will host designers, creatives, brands, media, and many more to produce exclusive content to merge fashion, technology, and culture in homes globally. There will be a variety of events to watch such as interviews, podcasts, designer diaries, webinars, and digital showrooms, for designers to share their new workspaces and experiences. The full three-day schedule is available for download on their website.
With over 100 designers involved in the show, their collections, old and new, will be presented through films, live streams, walkthroughs, panels, virtual showcases, tutorials, lookbooks, and performances. Social media platforms, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and Pinterest are joining to bring the experience to homes through countdown stickers as invitations, and shopping tags for seamless purchases. Due to this multimedia platform, designers can sell their current collections to the public and the retailers can place orders for their next season.
In light of the current climate, the British Fashion Council are focused on combining cultural celebration with digital technology to bring the fashion show to life. “By creating a cultural fashion week platform, we are adapting digital innovation to best fit our needs today and something to build on as a global showcase for the future,” said BFC Chief Executive Caroline Rush in a statement. “Designers will be able to share their stories, and for those that have them, their collections, with a wider global community.”
If you want to get involved, there’s an opportunity to. John Lewis & Partners, and the British Fashion Council have teamed up to bring LFW to your home. The LFW Catwalk Challenge allows anyone and everyone to host their own catwalk at home through 3 simple steps:
- Take off your pyjamas and put on your favourite outfit. Don’t forget accessories, add your own style. Now take a video; pose, dance, strut, any way you want.
- Upload straight to Instagram so your followers can see your best look. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #LFWCatwalkChallenge and tag @johnlewisandpartners with your profile set to public so you can participate in our nationwide LFW from home.
- Remember to post before 12pm on 12th June for your video to count!
The LFW Catwalk Challenge video will be aired at 7:55pm on Sunday 14th June, capturing catwalk moments by the nation. This will be the first LFW show that has content generated by the public so in response John Lewis will be donating £5 for every entry to the BFC Foundation Fashion Fund for the Covid Crisis.
The first digital LFW celebrates self-expression and joys from home, through their new inclusive approach to fashion week. Head to www.londonfashionweek.co.uk to access the digital show for free and see yourself feature in the LFW Catwalk Challenge.
