Your London Fashion Week guide
LFW returns to the capital this February and here is what you need to know.
Running from Friday 17th to Tuesday 21st February 2023, as a digital physical hybrid, LFW February 2023 brings together a line-up of 127 brands.
LFW's unofficial kicked off a day before with a memorial service held at Southwark cathedral for Dame Vivienne Westwood and Harris Reed's semi-couture show ahead of his debut collection as Creative Director of Parisian house Nina Ricci.
One of the most anticipated shows of the London season is Burberry with the first collection of its new chief creative officer Daniel Lee. The unveiling of Burberry's new logo, using an equestrian type motif created for the brand a hundred years ago and a serif typeface, has been the object of many speculations and is perhaps announcing a brand strategy more focused on British heritage.
Other highlights will include Moncler Genius’ public-facing show at Olympia which aims to showcase the power of their collaborations, featuring Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams and Rick Owens. Other highlights include; Christopher Kane, ERDEM, JW Anderson, Molly Goddard, ROKSANDA and Simone Rocha.
2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the BFC’s NewGen initiative, which supports and nurtures emerging British designers. Among the new generation of designers, Conner Ives, LVMH prize winner Nensi Dojaka, S.S.DALEY, SAUL NASH, Chet Lo and Yuhan Wang are getting a lot of attention.
The DiscoveryLAB, which aims to support 'very emerging designers' will continue to be digital this season, 12 designers will take part, including Alec Bizby, Denis Howlhita, Derrick, Laura Pitharas, Ruirui Deng, Siyun Huang, Sól Hansdóttir, YYAtomic, An Ocean of Ideas (AOI), Johannes Warnke, Roseocean and Xu Zhang.
Ukrainian Fashion Week: As part of the ‘Support Ukrainian Fashion’ initiative, LFW and Ukrainian Fashion Week will present three Ukrainian designers; FROLOV, KSENIASCHNAIDER and PASKAL at the BFC NEWGEN space.
And for fashion fans and enthusiasts, City-Wide Celebration is organising some great events that will be open to the public.
Events include designer Q&A sessions, workshops, live music performances, and limited-edition product drops. Brands taking part include Anya Hindmarch, Browns, Fiorucci, MatchesFashion, Peter Jones, Selfridges, and Jigsaw.
Here is what's on our radar:
Vogue & Snapchat Redefining the body exhibition
Almost a year in the making, this exhibition has been curated by Edward Enniful and opens on February 18th. A programme of lectures and events will explore themes of fashion, style, identity, technology and connection, Raven Smith, Christophe Kane and more will take part. The exhibition will be open between 18 February and 5 March and is located at 84/86 Regent Street. Free Entry. Reservation can be made here.
Fashion Finest
Fashions Finest will host their AW23 Collective runway show in St John’s Hyde Park. Its catwalk shows will feature dynamic and inclusive collections of emerging designers.
Fashions Finest AW23 Collections show takes place at 3 pm on Saturday 18th February 2023 at St John’s Hyde Park, London.
Tickets are available here.
City Wide Celebration: Returning this season is the City Wide Celebration, a full programme of events and activations open to the public over LFW. Running from Friday 17th to Tuesday 21st February 2023 alongside the LFW show schedule, City Wide Celebration unites London in a festival of creativity and innovation. The programme consists of parties, new collection previews, intimate designer Q&As, exclusive fashion week menus, promotions, complimentary gifts and workshops from over 450 brands across London. Explore the full programme here.
NEWGEN 30 Years: The year-long celebration of NEWGEN 30 will kick off at LFW in February 2023 and will provide an opportunity for the creative community to come together to celebrate and acknowledge the scheme’s illustrious history and alumni, and London’s legacy in nurturing emerging talent and the next generation of visionary creatives.
The BFC NEWGEN Show Space is located at The Old Selfridges Hotel, 400 Oxford Street.
And finally, if you want to party, head to Chotto Matte, Soho’s Nikkei stalwart is set to bring the electric atmosphere of London Fashion Week to the restaurant this year with a stellar lineup of DJs entertaining dinner and cocktail guests throughout the week.
Already listed in the little black book of the places beloved by London’s fashion set, Chotto Matte’s five days of festivities will draw in the city's chicest with DJ headliners including; Nick Grimshaw and Aimee Phillips, Pixie Geldof, Mary Charteris, Zezi Ifore and Taylah Elaine.
Performances will run from Friday, 17th February until Tuesday 21st February from 9 PM until late:
For full details on LFW and the City-Wide Celebration, visit the LFW website here
