From Monday in England, any gathering of over six people — be it indoors or outdoors, so long as it’s not in a cinema, restaurant, bar, shop or place of work — will be dispelled, with everybody present liable to fines. That throws a spanner in the works for London Fashion Week, one might think. As coronavirus case numbers started to drop in the UK, London’s major fashion brands opted to try out returning to physical, socially distanced showcases. Burberry planned a full show (albeit outdoors); Mark Fast organised a regular runway show with limited capacity; Paria Farzaneh and Molly Goddard are working on exhibitions and presentations.
And it seems that, for now, all of that is still going ahead, despite case numbers rising to their highest levels since May. It’s a spike the government is claiming to be on top of — introducing vague measures to suppress them before winter flu season arrives. But as with all of the directions we’ve been given so far, everything is subject to change last minute.
But that isn’t phasing the British Fashion Council, who have confirmed that things are on track to run Thursday 17 – Tuesday 22 September. “[We] can confirm that the limited number of physical shows and appointments for London Fashion Week are still due to go ahead,” they said in a statement. “We are working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the further implications of the new cap of six on social groups, and will share further details in due course.”
Every event on the official London Fashion Week schedule has been tightly vetted by government officials to ensure that all measures are in place for shows to go ahead. And for those who wish to watch from afar, the digital offering is greater than ever: Matty Bovan, Vivienne Westwood, Art School and Marques’Almeida, alongside many others, will be bringing their collections directly to digital platforms instead.