London fashion week Woman with designs to put UK industry on map

The Prince and Princess of Wales' private garden at Kensington Palace has been commandeered by Burberry, who are building a tent the size of a minor airport for their show on Monday.

- Jess Cartner-Morley

The mid-century fortress by Eero Saarinen that once housed London's American embassy, recently reopened as a luxury hotel, is dressing its ballroom for the 20th anniversary show by Roksanda tonight.

But the biggest transformation of London fashion week is not on the catwalk but in the boardroom, where the British Fashion Council is under the new leadership of Laura Weir, a former newspaper and Vogue fashion editor.

Weir's tactics to reestablish Britain's status in the fashion world include persuading government ministers to embed fashion into trade deals, luring famous brands back to London from Milan and Paris, and casting a net outside London to discover the next generation of British design talent.

The new chief executive describes the task as "herculean". Brexit has hammered competitiveness, Covid has destroyed supply chains, the cost of living has reduced demand, and the rise of Milan and Paris as luxury superpowers powers has sucked the lifeblood from the catwalks of London and New York.

What's more, “people in government have said to me straight out: your sector is not going to get more money, because there is no money”, Weir said.