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