Editor’s comment: All eyes on London as fashion takes centre stage

As London Fashion Week kicks off and the eyes of the world are watching, it’s an opportunity to showcase the talent and importance of our sector, writes Drapers editor Jill Geoghegan. All eyes are firmly on the UK capital this week as London Fashion Week (LFW) kicked off in style with a 1980s-inspired showcasing from Paul Costelloe, led by the late, great, Irish designer’s son, creative director William Costelloe. (Watch our chat with him here). Without doubt there is a special buzz around LFW this season ahead of the highly anticipated return of Alexander McQueen coming home to London from Paris, Christopher Kane making his Mulberry debut, and Marks & Spencer joining the schedule for the first time to mark 100 years in fashion, (M&S at LFW, no one would have thought that possible 10 years ago!) Some in the industry grumble about the pomp, expense and irrelevance of the London-centric event but it puts British and Irish fashion firmly in the global spotlight, and is an opportunity to show the importance of our industry and the employment it creates, and to put pressure on the government to support fashion retail. Our high streets have taken a battering this year with household names including Russell & Bromley, Radley, LK Bennett and Quiz closing their doors for good, leaving hundreds of empty stores and job losses in their wake. Meanwhile, uncertainty hangs over the future of Harvey Nichols as redundancies commence under Frasers Group’s restructuring, as exclusively revealed by Drapers last week. Retail is the UK’s largest private-sector employer and the government must support our industry by lowering business rates and the cost of hiring staff, reintroducing tax-free shopping for international visitors and investing in reinvigorating our high streets, which serve as vital community hubs across the UK. Advertisement London Fashion Week showcases the talent we have in this incredibly creative, innovative and resilient sector, let’s use it to remind those in Number 10 of that. Keep up to date with all the shows, trends and LFW news across Drapers’ Instagram and the Drapers website this weekend. Thanks for reading and see you next week. Have your say or a new account to join the discussion.