London Fashion Week will go ahead with no audience in February

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho)

With the announcement of lockdown 3.0 until at least mid-February, it comes as no surprise that London Fashion Week will be digital only this season, having had a mix of both physical and virtual shows in September.

The BFC confirmed that it will run from Friday 19th to Tuesday 23rd 2021 and will be able to go ahead as digital-only event. It will still be possible to film and photograph shows, presentations and installations, however they should not take place with an invited audience.

Caroline Rush, BFC Chief Executive commented, 'The BFC continues to ask Government to engage in support of the fashion industry. One of the main active requests is to allow key creative and model talent to travel to and from the UK with a phased introduction of quarantine exemptions for the fashion industry, in order to carry out essential business, to protect the competitiveness of the British fashion industry.

This further lockdown is incredibly challenging for businesses, freelancers and individuals. Our industry is one of amazing creativity and this is more true in the UK than any other country. The majority of businesses and individuals we work with are independent businesses and creatives who contribute significantly to the cultural and creative reputation of our country. We will continue to push for support and champion our extraordinary businesses to global audiences. Despite all the challenges the last few years have brought, I truly believe that the creativity, agility and business savvy of our sector will prevail and the societal conscious of our British businesses and fashion workforce will see us re-calibrate to not only be strong creatively but strong sustainably too.'

Designers expected to have digital presentation on the London Fashion Week site - which will be open to all - include Burberry, Halpern, Temperley, Richard Malone, Emilia Wickstead, Erdem and Victoria Beckham.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.