​LFW means February West End spend ‘to hit £600m’ as London fills with fashion fans

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 18, 2019

London’s West End continues to be busy, despite generally weak footfall around the UK, and for London Fashion Week, the New West End Company has predicted an influx of fashion-focused visitors will drive the area’s retail turnover higher to reach £600 million this month, helped by the event’s proximity to Chinese New Year.

Jace Tyrrell, Chief Executive of New West End Company, which represents 600 businesses on Bond, Oxford and Regent Street, said: “London Fashion Week is a global moment for the West End, driving tens of thousands of domestic and international visitors to our designer and high street stores. 

“As Fashion Week has fallen so close to Chinese New Year this February, this combination of fashion fans and international visitors will help February sales in the West End.” 

And he added that the large number of labels making their collections available immediately after their shows has provided a boost in recent seasons. 

“We’ve noticed that the see-now, buy-now trend has penetrated more West End retailers than ever before, with many offering customers access to their collections immediately after catwalk shows. This is a key contributor to the spike in spend by these high-spending shoppers,” he said.

Despite being the smallest of the ‘Big 4’ fashion weeks, LFW has retained its place on the international fashion calendar through a mix of big names regularly choosing to show there, the smaller, highly creative emerging names for which its known being a major attraction, and the strong support work by the British Fashion Council. 

And it has also struck a chord with consumers through initiatives like the London Fashion Week Festival that also drives footfall into central London.