When the firstLondon Fashion Weektook place 40 years ago (in the distinctly unglamorous setting of a Kensington car park), Margaret Thatcher was practically part of the furniture in Downing Street, just halfway through her decade-long grip on power.
Sarah Mowerobserving in 1984 as a baffled bystander rather than the seasonedVoguecritic she is todayrecalls witnessinga great gang of people charging the catwalk in parachute-silk shirts with flying tails, cotton-drill utility trousers and, as I remember it, Dunlop plimsolls.
LFW is now marking its milestone anniversary mere months after another long period of Tory rule was brought to an end by Labourshistoric election victoryin July.
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After Daniel Lees blockbusterBurberry showclosed out a season that brought usmayo bags,mums on the moodboard, andHarry Styless freshly shorn mullet(a million miles from that lone mysterious tent that materialized outside the Commonwealth Institute all those years ago), designers and editors decamped to Number 10, where new Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a reception for the BFC.
Keir Starmer addressed guests, as did Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, and Caroline Rush and David Pemsel from the British Fashion Council.
The PMwhose wifeVictoria Starmerwas on the front row at Edeline Lees spring/summer 2025 show earlier that dayhas taken office at a time of huge challenges for the industry, from the impact of business rates to the aftermath of Brexit, and the ever more urgent question of sustainability.
Keir Starmer addressed guests, as did Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, and Caroline Rush and David Pemsel from the British Fashion Council.
He touched on many of those issues in his speech to guests including London designers Simone Rocha, Erdem Moraloglu, Nicholas Daley, Christopher Kane, Harris Reed, and Dame Zandra Rhodes, as well as the legendary make-up artist Pat McGrath and supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Mr. Starmer had just flown in from Rome following talks with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, and was due to make a speech at the Holocaust Educational Trust immediately afterwards, but said he had been determined to attend the BFC reception, where he pledged to turn the page on Downing Streets relationship with the fashion industry.
The days of fashion feeling overlooked or ignored by previous governments were over, he said, noting that the industry is worth billions of pounds to the UK economy and represents more than 800,000 jobs.
The PM was introduced by the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who said learning that fashion fell within her brief was a “pinch me moment”, but confessed she’d never had to think so hard about what to wear to work as she did ahead of the reception.
That is huge!
said Mr Starmer, adding that fashion and the creative industries had a crucial role to play in telling Britains story on the world stage.
The PM was introduced by the Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who said learning that fashion fell within her brief was a pinch me moment, but confessed shed never had to think so hard about what to wear to work as she did ahead of the reception.
The Prime Minister also vowed to put creativity back at the core of the UK curriculum, and spoke of the need to build a bridge to aspiration, to make it allow young people of all backgrounds to imagine a future for themselves in the industryremarks that drew applause from the audience.
Im perhaps not the flag-flier for fashion in my family, he joked at one point, adding that he did pick up one fashion tip at the undeniably dampOlympic Opening Ceremony in Paris: Always carry a Team GB raincoat!
