The BFC to take a global view of fashion week

London - The organisation behind London Fashion Week and London Collections: Men, the British Fashion Council (BFC), gathered with its global counterparts from the USA, Italy and France this week to discuss changes within the industry such as sustainability, digital, the future of the fashion calendar and education.

The meeting, which coincided with the 31st edition of Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival, brought together Ralph Toledano, president of the Fédération Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode; Pascal Morand, the federation’s executive president; Steven Kolb, president and chief executive officer of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA); Caroline Rush, chief executive officer of the BFC; and Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Chamber of Fashion. The meeting marked the first time that the leaders of the four fashion industry's came together.

"Fashion is a big family," said Toledano to WWD. "It’s evolving. Talking and exchanging ideas is very important. It’s not to decide whatever — our bodies don’t decide, I don’t think any of us can pretend we do — but we can make the link with the houses in order to evolve organically. By meeting regularly — preferably where there’s sunshine — we hope we can make progress," he added. During the meeting, the fashion organisation acknowledged the conclusion of the study ordered by the CFDA and conduct by the Boston Consulting Group which indicated that each designer label should decide what works best for themselves.

"Everybody should do what’s best for them. Of course, there should be some coordination; otherwise it will create a mess. [The discussions] started with an initiative [Burberry]. What we see after a few months is that there’s nearly a consensus." Capasa stressed that the organisations were trying to ensure that everybody remained a part of a system, which no matter what is show, is shown during fashion week.

Photo: Villa Noailles, Hyères, Facebook