London Fashion Week Digital was seasonless and gender-neutral showcasing both men’s and women’s collections and a mix of new launches that will be in stores in the future

Fashion for sure has the power to spark joy in challenging times. Amid the global health crisis, London Fashion Week (LFW) takes a new form — a digital-only platform merging womenswear and menswear.

“Canceling London Fashion Week was never an option. The big question was around what sort of format it would take in lockdown,” said Caroline Rush, CEO of the British Fashion Council, in an interview recently.

“We see London Fashion Week June 2020 as a moment to listen, reflect, communicate and start to reset. This global platform was seasonless and gender neutral showing both men’s and women’s collections and a mix of new collection launches that will be in stores in the future as well as collections people can buy now. We wanted to create a platform that flexes to audience and business needs and that gives a 360 view of fashion today,” added she.

Bringing fashion, culture and technology together, the platform hosted exclusive multimedia content from designers, creatives, brand partners, media, retailers and cultural institutions enabling collaboration. This new digital experience worked as a global meet-up point, offering interviews, podcasts, designer diaries, webinars and digital showrooms, providing the opportunity for designers to tell their stories and share their experiences from the last few months. This platform put storytelling at its heart, bringing the fashion community together.

Caroline said, “Fashion is a unifying force and now, more than ever, it is essential that we collaborate and come together to support each other through difficult times. Our ambition is to contribute to the fight against COVID-19, while protecting vital PPE supplies reserved for the NHS. Through this project, we will not only celebrate British designers but also champion sustainability in a time of crisis.”

The pandemic has heightened the urgency with which we need to address a range of issues from finding clean, fair and transparent supply chains to reducing carbon emissions, tackling pollution, textile waste, single-use plastic and the stark challenges of over production. Some of these key topics were discussed during the fashion week.