London Fashion Week: Victoria Beckham, Burberry headline
London Fashion Week opens Friday with all
eyes on Victoria Beckham, who debuts at the event on the 10th anniversary of
her label’s launch, and on Burberry’s new star designer Riccardo Tisci.
The ex-Spice Girl, celebrating a decade since her brand’s 2008 unveiling in
New York, has since defied the naysayers and won the respect of her peers.
The Briton now heads a fashion empire valued at 100 million GBP (131 million USD)
by the industry press, but will be presenting at the country’s premiere
fashion gathering for the first time.
“Ten years ago, when Victoria Beckham started, many saw her as just another
example of a celebrity wanting to have a fashion range with no formal fashion
training,” University of Westminster Professor Andrew Groves told AFP.
“Through hard work and determination she has proved those early critics
wrong.”
‘VB’ on Piccadilly
Ahead of her homecoming of sorts the 44-year-old mother-of-four recently
featured on London’s legendary Piccadilly Circus advertising screens,
fulfilling a childhood dream.
“When I was a kid my parents would always drive us up to London and show us
around Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and… Piccadilly Circus,” Beckham told
The Daily Telegraph newspaper this week.
“I remember looking up, thinking ‘wow, how cool would that be, to literally
see your name in lights.’
The designer’s show, scheduled for Sunday, is expected to attract a host of
VIPs, starting with the Beckham tribe — her husband David and their four
children.
British Vogue magazine, which features them on its October cover, is hoping
some former bandmates may also attend.
“Fingers crossed for some Spice Girls on the front row,” it wrote.
The other big highlight of London’s week, dedicated to the spring-summer
2019 collections and which ends on Tuesday, will see Tisci present his much
anticipated first collection for Burberry.
The Italian designer, formerly of Givenchy, replaced Christopher Bailey as
chief creative officer of the luxury British fashion house in March and will
showcase on Monday.
He was credited with reviving Givenchy during his 12-year tenure there by
cultivating links with celebrities.
His arrival at Burberry is intended to reinvigorate the brand following
disappointing profits in recent years.
Burberry is relying on Tisci, praised for his ability to blend streetwear
with high fashion, to re-energise its high-end presence.
“Riccardo’s creative vision will reinforce the ambitions we have for
Burberry and position the brand firmly in luxury,” chief executive Marco
Gobbetti said in a statement.
No fur
Naomi Braithwaite, senior lecturer in fashion marketing and branding,
Nottingham Trent University, told AFP that Tisci “seems a perfect choice for
Burberry.”
“His tendency to not be afraid to take creative risks and innovate (are)
characteristics that have underpinned Burberry’s philosophy in the last few
years,” she said.
Originally from Taranto, a port city in southern Italy, Tisci trained at
Central Saint Martins, a top arts and design college in London.
He has already started to make his own mark on the venerable British brand
since arriving, recently unveiling on Instagram a new company monogram.
A white “B” is interwoven with red ribbons to form the initials of Thomas
Burberry, who founded the fashion house in 1856.
London Fashion Week will also offer up its usual legion of young talent,
starting with Jonathan Anderson on Saturday.
The artistic director of luxury leather goods firm Loewe, considered one of
the biggest talents of his generation, will showcase the latest offering from
his own J.W. Anderson brand.
Fashionistas are also expected to be out in force Saturday for the debut
collection of British It-Girl Alexa Chung, a Swiss Army knife of talents —
from modelling to TV presenting to designing.
With no animal furs on display during the five days of parades, animal
rights activists are not expected to repeat past protests, highlighting the
evolution of the industry away from the use of fur.(AFP)
Photo courtesy of Victoria Beckham