British fashion designers meet the Asian market with creative works.

London Show Rooms, the British Fashion Council's (BFC) international fashion showcase initiative, was in Hong Kong recently. The event was a project of the China Britain Fashion Alliance and rode on the success of London Show Rooms in New York, Los Angeles and Paris.

The China Britain Fashion Alliance was established in July 2011 and is an organization involving the BFC, Beijing International Brand Management Center, and the China-Britain Business Council to promote British fashion in China.

Designers participating in London Show Rooms HK are Fashion Forward Alumni and BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund awardees, and they showcased their Spring/Summer 2012 collections at this event.

Caroline Rush, CEO of BFC, says the project "has become an essential initiative to promote British talent internationally and help designers develop their businesses through directly networking and working with media, retailers and the broader fashion industry in each region.

"London is developing a reputation as a creative capital of the world This is our first step into China and we have been welcomed with open arms."

Rush wants UK designers to get to see the international market place while China Vogue editor Angelica Cheung hopes this exchange will inspire Chinese designers.

Rush says, "It is incredibly worthwhile for British designers to understand the difference in markets and their opportunities. Hong Kong is a buoyant market and I want them to see what it's like to step out of the European market and its environment."

For decades, British fashion was identified by a quirky aesthetic, with names like Paul Smith, Hussein Chalayan and Vivienne Westwood gaining devout following in Japan and niche, fashion forward markets in Europe and America.

It wasn't until French luxury fashion brands started mining designers from the UK that London acquired a reputation for having a wealth of creative talent - Alexander McQueen started at Givenchy, John Galliano was at Dior and Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo both began their design careers together at Chloe soon after graduation. But in the last five years, British designers working under their own labels have been growing in popularity both with the international press and retailers.

Rush, however, can enumerate the qualities and reasons that make British designers sought-after today.

It starts with the schools, where fashion and arts colleges are under the same roof, and society, where breaking boundaries is encouraged. The famous fashion school Central Saint Martin's, for example, emphasizes creativity and does not believe in teaching principles of business.

"There is a lot of time to learn that later and who knows what the market will be like by the time they graduate," quips Rush. UK designers have creativity that is bringing a big difference into the current retail market. This creativity has filled a gap in the market with well-edited collections carrying very individual pieces. The BFC and their various initiatives such as Fashion Forward, NewGen, various fashion funds and foundations have also mentored designers on professionalism and finance in the fashion industry.

You can contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.

For China Daily

(China Daily 12/04/2011 page14)