London’s top fashion fest courts Russia and Asia
- Filed under: Alternative Lifestyle, Beauty, Fashion, Fashion Week, Fendi, Kiss Bloggs, kissfendi
- Date: Feb 11,2008
The focus was more on who was in the audience when London’s premier fashion event began on Sunday because designers said U.S. recession fears had made Russia and Asia the markets to target.
Buyers from top U.S. firms Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus had jolted London Fashion Week by skipping it this year on grounds that the recession concerns and a strong pound had made Britain’s designers too expensive.
Graeme Black, who unveils his autumn-winter collection on Friday, caters for the Russian elite who think nothing of a shopping trip abroad and have made their country the world’s fastest growing emerging market for luxury goods.
“In Russia there is an amazing excitement, a euphoria for things that are new,” Black said in an interview with Reuters.
“They don’t mind spending money but want something very special and unique. There’s no price resistance,” said Black.
So with the London fashion industry still trying to play catch up with more prestigious and commercially successful Paris and Milan, the event’s organisers have shifted their focus to the booming East.
“We have attendance from emerging markets and we still have very strong representation from Europe, so it’s not all about the United States any more,” British Fashion Council chief executive Hilary Riva told reporters. /uk.reuters.com
