British Fashion Council

A British not-for-profit organisation to strengthen British fashion in the global fashion economy

Summary

The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a not-for-profit organisation that harnesses the collective power of the industry to enable sustainable growth and strengthen British fashion in the global fashion economy.

It was founded in 1983 and the BFC organises biannual womenswear and menswear showcases: London Fashion Week (LFW) and London Fashion Week Men’s (LFWM) to promote the best of British design to an international audience.

Story

The British Fashion Council (BFC) was established in 1983 as a not-for-profit limited company. Prior to the establishment of a single body to promote the interests of the British fashion industry, there were a number of organisations that existed to promote different interests within British fashion. These included the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers (founded 1941/2); London Model House Group (1950); Fashion House Group of London (1958); Clothing Export Council (1965); London Designer Collections (1965) and the Fashion Industry Action Group (1981)

Activities

Based in London, the British Fashion Council (BFC) is currently chaired by Stephanie Phair and since 2009, Caroline Rush CBE has been the organisations Chief Executive. Previous Chairs of the BFC have included Natalie Massenet, Edward Rayne, Nicholas Coleridge CBE, Harold Tillman and Sir Stuart Rose.

The BFC organises the twice-yearly London Fashion Week (LFW) and London Fashion Week Men’s (LFWM), showcasing the best of British fashion design to an international audience of press and buyers. Alongside this, each season LONDON show ROOMS takes emerging designers to Paris providing the opportunity to promote overseas. The BFC also organises the annual Fashion Awards, designed to celebrate creativity and innovation within the industry, as well as London Fashion Week Festival (LFWF), an all-inclusive event open to the public.

Another facet of the organisation’s activities is to support the next generation of designers by supervising fashion higher education and apprenticeships in the United Kingdom. David Beckham is the current Ambassadorial President.

References