On the 15th of July the British Fashion Council, the organization that presides every activity related
to the fashion industry in the United Kingdom, announced that the next London Fashion Week,
which will take place from the 13 th to the 17 th of September, is going to witness an important
novelty: for the first time, indeed, one of the four global fashion weeks will open its doors to the
public.
Starting from the edition of the next September, two different types of audiences will be attending
London Fashion Week. On one side, the trade audience will attend on schedule catwalk shows and
presentations routinely across the 5 days of London Fashion Week from the 13 th to the 17 th of
September. On the other side, the public audience will be able to purchase a ticket to experience the
London Fashion Week: in fact, there will be a selection of designers that will showcase 6 ticketed
catwalk shows which will take place at the official London Fashion Week Hub, on Saturday 14th
and Sunday 15th September 2019. The public will be able to assist to various activities, such as
creative installations, industry-led talk panels from experts of the fashion industry, the DiscoveryLAB, an experiential space where fashion meets art, technology and music and a brand
new Designer Exhibition, where the creative work of progressive designers explores the most
compelling stories around sustainability, community and ethics. So, especially through the Designer
Exhibition, the British Fashion Council will give space to the #PositiveFashion initiative, giving the
guests the chance to discover new brands and to learn how the fashion industry can be a force for
change.
Plus, according to what the British Fashion Council stated, the celebration of London Fashion Week will extend to the entire city, including activities and events that will be curated by the BFC in
partnership with key retailers, cultural institutions and brands to engage an as wide as possible
audience, including people who may not have previously engaged with the fashion world.
The tickets for the catwalk shows are already on sale on Seetickets.com
The standard ticket is 135 pounds, while it will also be possible to sit in the front row paying 245 pounds.
So, it would seem that the fashion world might be becoming always less exclusive, opening more
and more to the exterior world. Bret Easton Ellis also talked about this topic in an essay published
on the July 2019 issue of Vogue Italia. The American writer indeed criticized this inclusivity trend
of the last few years: «The analogical world of the Nineties was tactile and exclusive – there were
secrets and secrets made everything more exciting. The democratization of arts made possible by
technology and social media made everything flat and boring, and because most of our experiences
happen digitally everything seems even farther. We might be able to see everything - behind the
scenes on every photoshoot and fashion fitting and runway show streamed live, and getting intimate
glimpses of a model we follow on Instagram - but we are still separated from it and in the end we
are painfully aware of the chasm that lies between us and them, which is another reminder that the
internet actually makes people feel more lonely than it makes them feel interconnected. Internet
killed the enthusiasm because everything is too widespread, too much equivocally available, too
fake – everyone can ‘experiment’ everything, but the mystery is gone. Transparency is good when
talking, let’s say, about politicians and big entrepreneurial groups, but maybe in arts and fashion the mystery – a mystery that seems the heritage of a very long-gone era – is what they should aspire to, a way to make fashion more exclusive and desirable. Why would something be so desirable if
everyone can somehow have access to it? Isn’t it like having a relationship with someone who
sleeps with everyone you know? ».
Surely, despite what Bret Easton Ellis – who was criticised by many for the opinions he expressed on this essay – affirmed, thanks to the London Fashion Week initiative, many people will be able to experience the fashion world first-hand, though in a limited manner: in fact, the fashion shows open to the public will be only six and the brands involved have yet to be announced.
words Elena Affricani