London Fashion Week 2021
A Celebration of Sustainability, Innovation & Creativity for Everyone.
The streets of the capital have been teaming with stylish folks this week thanks to London Fashion Week (AKA, LFW).
Editors, buyers, models, and celebrities have all been in attendance for one of the biggest events in the fashion calendar. The A-listers weren’t the only ones who were able to celebrate style, however. Thanks to the British Fashion Council’s reintroduction of the City Wide Celebration programme, LFW has been opened up to everyone, which gets a big thumbs up from us here at London Living!
City Wide Celebration
For this year’s City Wide Celebration, the British Fashion Council curated a schedule of activities with over 100 brands and over 350 events taking part over the five-day period
City-Wide activations popped up all over the capital, in renowned shopping destinations including Chelsea, Mayfair and Belgravia. Chelsea hosted a range of inspiring events across the neighbourhood, Mayfair hosted a month-long celebration of fashion in the capital and Belgravia was transformed with a series of beautiful flower installations, displays and experiences.
Meanwhile over in Stratford, East Londoners were given front row seats for free at The Lab E20, as part of their collaboration with The British Fashion Council’s Institute of Positive Fashion and sustainable living. Located at 3-4 East Park Walk, The Lab E20 is East Village’s new flagship for experiential retail, cultural exhibition and creative workspace, with a focus on positive fashion and sustainable living. Designed and produced by Christopher Raeburn, founder of RÆBURN, The Lab E20 is set to follow a six-month programme of events and experiences with various cultural partners, titled PREVIEW.
Throughout London Fashion Week the new, creative workspace, which was commissioned by Get Living, offered a digital LFW schedule, featuring live stream catwalks and new films from designers including Vivienne Westwood, Molly Goddard and KNWLS. Ailish Christian-West, Director of Real Estate at Get Living, commented; “Our vision is for East Village to become a stage where meaningful things are created, offering visitors and members of the community the opportunity to experience and see things being made, to learn about the products and the design, before buying them.”
To continue the celebration of fashion, sustainability, and innovation The Lab E20 is also hosting the Fashion District Festival which runs until the 26 September 2021. The aim of the Fashion District Festival is to bring together fashion, technology, business, and education in East London to meet, compete, collaborate, and innovate. Over the coming days you will find pop-up stores, styling sessions, vintage markets, workshops, events, and installations in various other Stratford locations too. You can learn how to upcycle a scarf into a kimono, attend a crochet workshop, learn how to make embroidered embellishments using traditional Latin American techniques, get the little ones making old clothes into superhero capes and there’s even an afternoon dedicated to designing and making a lanyard phone case, with the Prince’s Foundation.
Make it stand out
It’s open to all and well worth a visit. Book your spot online at; www.fashion-district.co.uk/festival
The homage to sustainable fashion doesn't end in September however, Get Living have just announced their collaboration with Fashion Rental app, LOANHOOD, who will be running a succession of workshops and events that promote a circular fashion economy in Stratford. It will be fun opportunity to try on and rent clothes and reinvent your wardrobe, while mingling with ‘loaners’ in the community. Events include E20 Clothes Swasp + Rent, with a silent disco, a Street Style Photography workshop and a Repair and Rave Workshop and our particular favourite, a Halloween Make and Mendworkshop where you will learn how to recycle old costumes (or anything else looking a bit worse for wear) into something new!
#LetsDOLondon
Another new initiative, which runs in collaboration with City-Wide Celebration, isLimited Edition London, an initiative that is part of theMayor of London’s Let’s Do Londoncampaign, launched to help encourage visitors back to the city. Limited Edition London offers Londoners and visitors a varied selection of exclusive events, activities and clothing items that can only be accessed in person.
“London is recognised globally as a leading fashion capital and the unrivalled creativity and diversity of the sector in our city will be vital in helping to drive our social and economic recovery. Many fashion retailers have had an incredibly difficult 18 months which is why I am thrilled to mark the return of London Fashion Week alongside a new City-Wide Celebration. The City-Wide Celebration, together with Limited Edition London will encourage Londoners and visitors back to our city enabling them to enjoy access to unique activities, bespoke in-person events and purchase exclusive clothing.”
The Limited Edition London programme will run until the end of November. Details of the programme are available on londonfashionweek. co.uk. We love the fab fashion initiatives that are emerging across the capital, all with a focus on sustainability, inclusion, and ethical buying habits. Tell us what you think in the comments below!
Have a fabulous weekend fashionistas!