BFC releases provisional fur-free schedule for LFW

The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced the provisional schedule for the upcoming London Fashion Week (LFW), set to take place from February 16 to 20, 2024.

It marks the 40th anniversary of the UK fashion event, seeing its dubbed ‘LFW40’ to celebrate the special year and continuing on its “digital-physical hybrid” concept.

Among the announcements made by the BFC, the organisation confirmed that from 2024 onwards fur was banned from the LFW schedule, with the requirement now implemented into the application process for brands.

With that being said, many returning and staple names are set to join the schedule, for which both mens- and womenswear will be combined. Among them are the likes of Burberry, 16Arlington, David Koma, Dunhill, Emilia Wickstead, Erdem, Eudon Choi, JW Anderson, Knwls, Richard Quinn, Roksanda and Simone Rocha.

The BFC NewGen Show Space will also be making a return to The Old Selfridges Hotel site, where the likes of Aaron Esh, Feben, Helen Kirkum, Conner Ives, Robyn Lynch, Saul Nash, Yuhan Wang and Tolu Coker will be taking part.

BFC’s transition strategy falls into place

The final schedule is set to be released in January 2024, with further updates on format and timings to be available.

The event comes as the BFC continues on a “transition period” for the fashion week, initiated last year following a noticeably short menswear show in June.

In a letter to the council’s members and stakeholders, David Pemsel, the BFC’s newest chair, said that the organisation’s new strategy aimed to provide clarity to businesses on how to get involved in initiatives and access the work it is doing.

Much of the shift was to be seen in the current structure of fashion week, as noted by CEO Caroline Rush, who said that the typical January edition for menswear was to no longer take place.

Instead, Rush noted that the council had been considering the possibility of launching a new platform dedicated to those that typically stray from the fashion week schedule, such as Savile Row designers.

As such, the larger February fashion week was to remain in place, with menswear brands to become a more significant part of the line up, as would local talent.