London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week is a week long designer fashion event. A week of catwalk shows that are held at Somerset House in London. There are more than fifty shows on the official schedule and another forty five to fifty shows that are off the schedule. There are exhibitions that are going on at the same time as the catwalk shows. These are opportunities for designers to show their wares using presentations and showrooms.

There are private showings and events that run concurrent with the official schedule. The city is filled with activities based on Fashion week for the visitors and designers that are gathered there.

Fashion Week comes to London twice a year. The Fall / Winter show is held in February and the Spring / Summer show is held in September. These two event weeks provide new up and coming designers a platform to win sponsorship, prizes and awards. The fashion week also provides the designers a chance to sell their creations.

London joins New York, Milan and Paris as the “big four” in the catwalk circuit. The designers and labels that have been include in London Fashion Week are Paul Smith, Richard Nicoll, Burberry,Luella, Holly Fultonand Erdem. With over one hundred designers bringing their collections to the public arena, this is the best opportunity to reach future clients from some of the twenty-five countries that attend the event.

For 2010, the events are being streamed live over the Internet for the first time. The British Fashion Council brings this weeklong event together with sponsors like Toni & Guy, Elizabeth Arden, TopShop and many other well-established corporate sponsors. The 2010 event's main sponsor for the last seven seasons has been Canon.

The catwalk and presentations are only available to those that have registered or been invited. Many stars are known to show up at these events such as the 2010 appearances of Kate Hudson, Mary Kate Olsen and Janet Jackson.