Edinburgh to rival LFW

Talks are under way to put Edinburgh on the fashion map. The city is planning on staging its own version of London Fashion Week, thereby hopefully attracting the big names in fashion to the Scottish capital.

Following the opening of Harvey Nichols, Armani and Louis Vuitton stores in Edinburgh, establishing the city as a fashion capital has become a more realistic goal. It is believed that these shops and other big fashion names on The Walk, the up-market shopping arcade, will attract celebrities and persuade them to attend the fashion shows. Futhermore, a number of venues such as The Dome, the Opal Lounge, the City nightclub and Harvey Nichol's fourth floor bar-restaurant may be used to stage the fashion shows or host the extravagant parties.

A multi-million pound promotional campaign for this venture is to be launched. The city council and the Edinburgh City Centre Management Company are working together to realize their vision for the city. Although there is no financial backing for the project as yet, and it is still such early days, leading retailers have already promised their support of the endeavour.

A spokesman for the Edinburgh City Centre Management Company told reporters that their plans for the capital were far more ambitious than what other cities such as Manchester and Leeds have been doing. The plan is to promote Edinburgh as a major player in the fashion arena, and for this to become a possibility, the Company is looking for significant funding from both the private as the public sector. The project, Experience Edinburgh, is set to launch next spring. And with the proper funding the fashion shows should be able to take place in the fall of next year.