Some 77 days after joining the British Fashion Council as chief executive officer, Laura Weir unveiled a string of major strategic updates in a bid to revitalize the fashion economy for British designers in the U.K. and globally.
Speaking at the BFC annual summer gathering at the Serpentine Pavilion, designed this year by Marina Tabassum, Weir said she intends to build on the “great foundations” of the BFC laid by her predecessors, notably Caroline Rush, former chief executive officer for over 15 years.
She vowed to continue to “put designers at the heart, to make mentoring and business skills central to our offer, and to ensure our funding models result in long-term impact for the British creative economy.”
At the same time, Weir acknowledged that London is losing design talent to Paris, Milan and Berlin because of a lack of infrastructure to support the designers to make, create, show and, importantly, to scale in this country.
“It is time to reset,” said Weir, as she unveiled a series of updates taking place from September.
First of all, the BFC will waive London Fashion Week fees for designer members showing physically in September. Historically, a brand needs to pay a listing fee to be shown as part of the LFW official calendar. Still, to maintain a BFC member status, a brand needs to pay between 500 pounds to 10,000 pounds a year, depending on one’s annual turnover.
Weir also confirmed that the BFC will increase scholarship funding and has secured a three-year funding commitment from the British government department for Culture, Media and Sport to the BFC Newgen program. As reported, the department for Culture, Media and Sport in January initially committed an additional 1 million pounds in funding for the next year.
The budget allocated to the guest program this fall will be doubled as well in order to bring in more international press and buyers to come to London to meet the designers in person.
Weir also stressed that the BFC should not be solely London-centric.
In a bid to decentralize and recognize nationwide excellence, and make the U.K. accessible to the world, the BFC is launching a creative education program called the Fashion Assembly.
Conceived by Sarah Mower, the BFC’s ambassador for emerging talent, the program will take designers back to their old schools across the country, to let young people outside of London envision themselves in this industry in the future.
Formerly executive creative director at Selfridges, Weir joined the BFC on April 28. Previously, she held various positions at ES Magazine, Elle UK, and Drapers.
“As I take on this role, I’m aware that the task ahead is herculean. I took this job because I care about the creative and commercial success of British fashion, and I won’t rest until my tenure has had a positive impact on its global reputation,” she said.
Over the past 10 weeks she’s had many conversations with the London creative industry and met with government representatives from Hong Kong, India and the Middle East.
“What strikes me is how these superpowers are investing in culture as they build their strategic positions on the global stage. Some are meeting me to find out more about London Fashion Week, and then their governments are investing millions of pounds in building their own. They understand that investment in culture leads to the commercial and reputational success of a nation,” she said.
At the end of her speech, Weir urged the BFC’s patrons, retailers, designers and cultural and commercial leaders to rise together.
“Fashion is not just about shows and clothes. Fashion gives us a preview of society’s next chapter. It’s time to write a new story together,” she said.
