In seasons past, if editors were going to skip one of the four major fashion weeks, London’s would be it. Anna Wintour doesn’t go — and she’s a Brit. When New York Fashion Week pushed its dates back so as not to interfere with Labor Day, London Fashion Week was nearly forced to go down to four days (Milan refused to change its dates for London). Since then New York has moved its Fashion Week up a day so that in September London Fashion Week can run for five days without interfering with any one else’s fashion week (in February it ran for six days). But still, London’s shows were quickly becoming a sad excuse for a Fashion Week. Then the British Fashion Council hired Harold Tillman as its new chairman, and he’s rapidly luring London’s most famous labels back to the city to show in September. The ever-expanding list includes Burberry, Pringle of Scotland, Matthew Williamson, Jonathan Saunders, and Clements Ribeiro. Yesterday, Jeremy Scott announced he’d show in London as well, after a few successful seasons showing in Paris. So now they’ve got the designers and the calendar space; they just need people to actually go to London, buy things, and give it press.
The British Fashion Council has hired People’s Revolution to help get American buyers and editors to attend. People’s Revolution is helmed, of course, by Hills savior Kelly Cutrone, who is working on her own Bravo reality show called Kell on Earth. There are probably plenty of more-than-competent PR firms in London capable of filling the seats at Fashion Week, but Kelly brings something to the city none of the others can: the chance to appear on Bravo. This chance is arguably more powerful than the forces and design talents of every designer showing at London combined. Bravo has the power to make ex-escorts who date unattractive 26-year-olds in the confines of Jersey nationally famous. Or to make the country forget Tyra Banks said “fierce” first. And to even make a crazy woman in L.A. whose mission is to help the douchebags of this world “find love” seem kind of likable. What London Fashion Week really needs is its own show on Bravo, but this new deal is a good stepping stone.
NEWSFLASH: Jeremy Scott is coming to LFW [Grazia]
AMERICAN REVOLUTION [WWD]
