London Fashion Week SS18 kickstarts with talks of optimism in the face of Brexit

The 66th edition of London Fashion Week kicked off with a talk by the CEO of the British Fashion Council, Caroline Rush.

Stressing the importance of British fashion, Rush highlighted how the fashion industry is worth £28 billion to the British economy, naming the work of heritage brands such as Burberry, pioneers including J.W. Anderson, Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha and emerging talent like Paula Knorr, Richard Malone and Halpern.

Brexit was the topic on everyone’s lips, leaving the British Fashion Council with a lot of questions to answer. Rush said that naturally, there were “continuing concerns over Brexit” and that the internationalism of London Fashion Week must remain.

“London is the most diverse multicultural and open city in the world and we fiercely protect that reputation. We are an international community just as we were before the referendum last year,” she continued.

“Our education system needs to support homegrown talent as well as international talent or we risk being less diverse in our outlook. When challenged, the industry comes together.”

The CEO finished with “one final optimistic statistic. It’s estimated that London will become the number one luxury market within Europe in the next year, making London Fashion Week an incredible platform for both British and international businesses to be a part of.”

Rush also brought up the BFC’s Positive Fashion campaign which has been in place for the past five years. This season, they are ramping things up, poaching eco-warrior Vivienne Westwood to head up the sustainable initiative.

The BFC are asking designers, publishers and other fashion businesses to switch to green by 2020 and play a role in reducing greenhouse emissions. Rush thanked the likes of Christopher Raeburn, Dame Viv, Teatum Jones and E. Tautz for their eco-friendly work.

She also noted that London Fashion Week will focus on model health and diversity with model Adwoa Aboah taking up the role of ambassador for the Positive Fashion campaign.

Let’s see what the week has to bring on the catwalk.

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Read more from Yahoo Style UK:

A definitive guide to London Fashion Week September 2017

Every famous face on the SS18 front rows

Why you don’t need a ticket to enjoy London Fashion Week