85
Fashion Jobs
ADIDAS
Senior Director Product Creation Ftw
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
L'OREAL GROUP
Corporate Affairs & Reputation Manager - Corporate Affairs & Engagement
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
JO MALONE LONDON
Education Manager, Jml/lm
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
L'OREAL GROUP
Senior HR Operations Executive/ Assistant Manager
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
ADIDAS
Key Account Manager (Franchise)
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
ADIDAS
Senior Manager, Commercial, Adigolf, Vietnam 1
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
ADIDAS
Key Account Manager 1 (Franchise)
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
COLUMBIA
lo Costing & Engineering Manager
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
L'OREAL GROUP
Category Manager - Cpd
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
L'OREAL GROUP
Business Planning Manager - Cpd
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
ADIDAS
Senior Manager Product Creation (Sportwear)
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
L'OREAL GROUP
Product Manager - Shu Uemura
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
ADIDAS
Manager, Quality Product Integrity
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
TAPESTRY
Manager, Manufacturing Engineer
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
SPECIALIZED
Painting Quality Engineer - Bình Dương, Vietnam
Permanent ·
ON RUNNING
Social Compliance Specialist - Hcm Based
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
ADIDAS
Senior Manager, Sourcing Operations
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
WILLIAMS SONOMA
Wood Sustainability Specialist - (Global)
Permanent · THUẬN AN
PUMA
Manager Quality Apparel & Accessories
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
PUMA
Senior Executive, Finance
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
PUMA
Head of Quality Footwear
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
PUMA
Quality Engineer Cobra
Permanent · HO CHI MINH CITY
By
AFP
Published
Sep 17, 2009
Reading time
3 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Designers return to kick-start London Fashion Week

By
AFP
Published
Sep 17, 2009

LONDON, Sept 17, 2009 (AFP) - British designers who abandoned their homeland for the bright lights of New York, Milan and Paris are returning in droves this season in what promises to be the most exciting London Fashion Week for years.


First on the catwalk at London Fashion Week is Paul Costelloe. Photo: Autumn-winter 2009, www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

Matthew Williamson, Burberry Prorsum, Pringle of Scotland, Jonathan Saunders and Antonio Berardi are all showing at this year's event starting Friday 18 September, alongside the up-and-coming talent for which London is famous.

In the current economic climate, the return of the big names is a boost for the event. Because it has less economic clout than its rivals, London Fashion Week faced the risk of being bypassed by buyers and journalists intent on cutting costs.

Burberry was the first to announce its return home to honour Fashion Week's 25th birthday this year.

The iconic brand will show its main collection, Prorsum, to celebrate the house's Britishness -- something creative director Christopher Bailey said he was "incredibly proud of".

Matthew Williamson announced shortly after that he too would be abandoning New York after seven years.

"London is my favourite city to show in. Logistically it's easier for us as we're based here but, consistently, London is a hotbed of new talent and it's exciting to be part of that," he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Pringle, Jonathan Saunders and Antonio Berardi followed hot on their heels in a clear sign that London is the place to be.

The prodigal sons will show their wares alongside other classic British names such as Vivienne Westwood's Red Label, Betty Jackson and Paul Smith, and newer talent such as Richard Nicoll, Marios Schwab, Christopher Kane and Mark Fast.

The originality of the designers coming out of London is seen as the reason the British capital has managed to keep its slot in the fashion calendar, despite being a poorer cousin to the New York, Milan and Paris shows.

"The reason why an awful lot of focus is put on centres like Paris is based on economics," said fashion historian Robert O'Byrne, author of a newly released book, "Style City: How London Became a Fashion Capital".

"The alternative way to see these cities is not in terms of how much revenue they necessarily generate but how much creativity -- and in that instance you could put London at the top, rather than the bottom."

He said aspiring designers still want to study and live in London more than anywhere else, a testament to the creative energy of the city.

"Among young designers, London is the place they want to go to -- it is their grail," O'Byrne told AFP.

The British Fashion Council (BFC) and other sponsors have provided funding and financial advice over the past decade to many young designers, including Kane and Schwab, to help them turn ideas into viable business.

O'Byrne argued that London also benefits from a culture of entrepreneurship dating back to the 1980s and then prime minister Margaret Thatcher, which made it easier to set up your own business.

"They began a culture of young people having the nerve to leave college and set themselves up, to show their clothes and start their own business, which is unique to London," he said.

The BFC's efforts to promote new talent continue this season with the extension of the long-established NewGen scheme to menswear designers. The first recipients, Carolyn Massey and James Long, will show on Wednesday 23 September.

This season also brings a change in venue, with the event moving from a tent outside the Natural History Museum to the grandiose confines of the neo-classical Somerset House in central London.by Alice Ritchie

Copyright © 2024 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.