The British Fashion Council launched the ‘Future of Fashion – Strategic Considerations for Growth’ report this morning at a press conference, hosted by Sir Philip Green and Harold Tillman CBE, to open London Fashion Week February 2012.
The UK fashion industry is worth £21billion to the UK economy and makes a vital contribution to the global reputation of Great Britain as a leader in creative excellence. Much more can be done to drive the sector forward, however, and contribute to much needed growth for the UK economy. In this document The British Fashion Council lays out its vision for the sector, identifying five areas which it believes have great potential and highlights the action required to ensure this potential is met. Spanning skills, training, education, job creation, talent development, retail, manufacturing, philanthropy and sponsorship. The considerations offer inspiration and hope for the future of this great industry and for the UK economy.
As part of the conference, Sir Philip Green announced Topshop’s plans to sponsor NEWGEN for a further 10 years. He stated that it is his personal goal to mentor at least a further 2 or 3 designers from the ground up to the world stage to emulate previous successes.
Over the past 10 years, 120 designers have been supported by the NEWGEN scheme. 49 shows out of the 95 on the LFW schedule have been supported NEWGEN, this equates to 52% of the LFW schedule.
Harold Tillman CBE, Chairman of the British Fashion Council, said ‘We believe that fashion can do so much to drive growth in Britain. By presenting this opportunity, whilst highlighting the challenges, we hope to unite the industry and government in doing everything possible to drive that growth.’
A copy of ‘Future of Fashion – Strategic Considerations for Growth’ is available as a downloadable document from www.britishfashioncouncil.com/futureoffashion
For more information contact:
Gemma Ebelis at the British Fashion Council
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7759 1989
gemma@britishfashioncouncil.com