The last seams are being neatened and seating plans finalised – London Fashion Week opens tomorrow for another season of hype and delight. Next year’s event will be the 25th since it started as a few exhibition stands in a London hotel. Now it’s a thoroughly professional outfit, with more than 50 official shows, nearly as many off-schedule ones and several major exhibitions – the showcase for a £750 million designer-fashion industry that exports £500 million worth of clothes annually, not to mention acclaimed designers to work worldwide. Even the Prime Minister’s wife is throwing a party.

Fashion Week is the subject both of effusive reporting and vexed debate – everyone agrees that London is inspiring and exciting, but short of funds and manufacturing facilities. In the words of Hilary Riva, of the British Fashion Council, it will “never be Milan or Paris, but its creativity and diversity are the best”. The people who make it happen – from designers and models to editors and retailers – care passionately about it. We asked those who are most influential right now what London fashion means to them.

Jane Shepherdson

CEO, co-owner and creative overseer of Whistles, where her input is starting to show. The former managing director of Topshop, she set up its New Generation designer sponsorship scheme, and has worked with ethical fashion company People Tree.

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BACKGROUND

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Multimedia

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“I couldn’t imagine working anywhere but London. The rawness, energy and dynamism are unique. We take more fashion risks and we’re more irreverent. British people are not afraid to be different, try new silhouettes, even look a bit silly. Women here aren’t desperate to look sexy, slick and glossy.

“We have youngsters of all nationalities in our design studio, but 99 per cent of them are British-trained. The lack of investment in this country is not in people but in facilities. Whistles, for example, has only five per cent of its manufacturing here – and that’s in really specialist areas. The reason may be historical – we simply don’t have those long-established, European-style luxury companies.

“It’s hard for designers to rise above the £600,000 turnover level – investors start at £2 million. We’d like to help with that, and, likewise, the ethical side, by using small suppliers. Our customers demand it – another area where Britain is ahead of the curve.”

Giles Deacon

British Designer of the Year 2006 and the most sophisticated performer of the younger generation. Previously worked for Gucci and had a full complement of supermodels in his first solo show. Also designs a range for New Look.

“I travel a lot and glean ideas from everywhere, but the London environment encourages adventure, playfulness and independence. We may not have the big organisations in this country, but we do get support. I benefited from the Fashion Forward scheme and my consultancies, such as New Look, are brilliant both for cash-flow and exposure – the industry can see that I understand more than just the top end. As for manufacture, I go where a specific item is made best – France, Italy and Scotland for knitwear, Suffolk for woven silk.”

Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos

Hot-ticket design duo about to hold their first on-schedule London Fashion Week show. Met while training at Antwerp’s famous Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

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