London Fashion Week Arrives

• 15 September 2013
• Ella Alexander

LONDON FASHION WEEK has finally arrived, as some of the industry's most exciting names prepare to take the limelight. The five-day-long event is expected to boost the economy by £100 million, as orders for the latest collections are made by international buyers, and the world's fashion press spend money on the city's hotels and flights to London.
Monday sees some of Britain's fashion bastions hit the catwalk - with Burberry (where the brand's collaboration with Apple's new iPhone 5s will also be unveiled), Christopher Kane, Erdem and Tom Ford taking to the stage. So who else to look out for? Our attention will focus on JW Anderson on Saturday; Mary Katrantzou and Jonathan Saunders on Sunday; Roksanda Ilincic and Peter Pilotto on Monday; and Meadham Kirchhoff, Simone Rocha and Lucas Nascimento on Tuesday.
This season is also the first time that the changes Natalie Massenet has made since becoming British Fashion Council chairman will fully come into fruition. She was only six weeks into her role when the last LFW took place, so this week's proceedings will see her vision for British fashion acted out - as she vies to make London's fashion scene more successful than ever before.
"London is always the most packed schedule - you can't miss anything because our designers are unpredictable," she told us last week.
The capital's spring/summer 2014 schedule features new additions from Manolo Blahnik, who will present a film of his latest collection on Sunday; Smythson, which will stage a top-secret event also on Sunday; and AllSaints, which is following on from its NY catwalk success with London presentations on Sunday and Monday. Although not strictly a debut, Whistles is another label set to make an impact as it stages its first full-scale catwalk show, upping the momentum from last season's intimate presentation.
This season will also bid farewell to a few fashion favourites. Emma Hill will showcase her final collection at Mulberry on Sunday; and Clements Ribeiro is notably absent from the catwalk line-up - opting to unveil its latest print-based offering on its website instead.