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London in spotlight as world capital of fashion

Xinhua, February 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Dedicated followers of fashion in Britain contribute billions of dollars to the economy, figures reveal as London Fashion Week gets into full swing.

The event kicked off Friday with a stunning catwalk event at London's Olympia and continues through to Feb. 23, with most events taking place at a multi-level car park in London's Soho area.

Figures published by co-organizers the British Fashion Council reveal that during 2015, over 39 billion U.S. dollars was spent on women's clothing. This figure is predicted to rise by almost a quarter by 2020, hitting a sales figure of over 46 billion U.S. dollars.

The event, backed by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Britain's export agency UKTI, is seeing 83 designers showcasing their collections to an invited audience of more than 5,000 people linked to the fashion trade.

Live events from the five day London Fashion Week are being beamed on 60 giant screens in major cities across Britain, attracting a potential audience of 35 million.

Around 2 million people are expected to watch fashion catwalk events on a giant curved screen in London's Piccadilly Circus.

Designer McQueen has returned to the schedule for the first time in over 10 years, alongside brands including Ashish, Belstaff, Burberry, Christopher Kane, Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, Gareth Pugh, J.W.Anderson, Mary Katrantzou, Paul Smith, Peter Pilotto, Pringle of Scotland, Sibling, Simone Rocha, Sophia Webster, and Topshop Unique.

Charlotte Olympia, the luxury shoes and accessories designer, hosted the first catwalk show of London Fashion Week.

Last year nearly 4 billion U.S. dollars was spent in Britain on fashion accessories, a 3.4 percent rise from 2014.

Figures from the British Fashion Council also show 60 percent of shoppers bought accessories online last year, an 8 percent rise from 2013. Just over half of all British women bought a handbag last year, according to the council.

As part of London Fashion Week, the British Council and the British Fashion Council (BFC) are presenting work by emerging fashion designers from 25 countries and regions in an exhibition entitled "Fashion Utopias."

The event takes place at London's Somerset House where the West Wing of the complex has been transformed into an imaginary terrain as a backdrop for the emerging generation of international designers.

The fashion industry in Britain supports almost 800,000 jobs. Endit