London Fashion Week

London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London, England, twice a year, in June and September. Showcasing more than 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks, along with New York, Milan, and Paris.

Organized by the British Fashion Council (BFC) for the London Development Agency with help from the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills, London Fashion Week first took place in February 1984. Lynne Franks had influenced the idea of putting together the London shows into a schedule.

London Fashion Week currently ranks alongside New York, Paris, and Milan as one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks. It presents itself to funders as a trade event that also attracts significant attention from the press and benefits taxpayers. More than 5,000 press and buyers, with orders of more than £100 million.

A retail-focused event, London Fashion Week Festival, takes place immediately afterward at the same venue and is open to the general public.

During SS16 (shown September 2015) and AW16 (shown February 2016), British Fashion Council made the decision to host the designers' showrooms at the Vinyl Factory, situated at the active car park in Soho, off Brewer Street.

Following increasing numbers of anti-fur protesters, the London Fashion Week held in September 2018 was the first major fashion week to be fur-free.

In late 2024, a British Fashion Council representative told Parliament that exotic skins — such as alligator, snake and reptile — will be banned from the event as of 2025.

Since its inception in 1984, London Fashion Week (LFW) has utilized various official venues. The inaugural event in March 1984 took place in the car park of the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington. It featured 15 catwalk shows from designers such as Vivienne Westwood, David Fielden, Ghost, and Betty Jackson.