<\/p>\n
\n\tSHANGHAI \u2014 Eight months in as chief executive officer of the British Fashion Council, Laura Weir is ready to lay out her vision for the organizer of London Fashion Week and The Fashion Awards.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn Tuesday, she will unveil \u201cBFC 2030: Access, Creativity, Growth,\u201d a 64?page strategic plan that aims to rewire how the BFC raises and deploys capital, and to shift it from a largely IP?led, event?driven body into what she calls \u201cthe industry\u2019s incubator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe is also pledging to grow the BFC\u2019s gross annual revenue by 38 percent to 18 million pounds by 2030, reflecting an 8.4 percent compound annual growth rate. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe strategy paper even has a fresh look. It was designed by David Lane and AWL Studio and features a new signature digital color called #000BFC blue.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe former journalist and Selfridges creative director took over the CEO role last year, and said she inherited a \u201csupport model\u201d that was misaligned with the realities of a post?Brexit, post?COVID?19, high?cost landscape and an increasingly global, mobile talent pool.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cInnovation, risk?taking and the productive tension between art and commerce that once defined British fashion are being compressed,\u201d Weir said in an interview. \u201cTalent alone is not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHer strategic plan is about moving from a \u201cpromote and showcase\u201d approach to a \u201csupport and sustain\u201d one. She promises to deliver \u201cdisciplined, purposeful growth designed to build resilience, increase direct investment in talent and secure the long?term competitiveness of British fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tFor Weir, the document is also a statement about her own tenure. \u201cIt\u2019s my first piece of work with the team here that really tells the story of where I want to take [the BFC] until 2030. It sets out why I\u2019m here, what I\u2019m going to deliver, and the legacy I want to leave as CEO,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen she started working on the plan last fall, she knew that British fashion\u2019s cultural clout far outstripped the structural support behind it.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile the sector contributes 31.5 billion pounds to the U.K. economy, according to Oxford Economics, rising operating costs, constrained domestic demand, global volatility and intensified international competition are eroding the structural advantages that once made London such fertile ground for innovation.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn top of that, the nation has been witnessing a steady outflow of talent. Designers nurtured by U.K. fashion schools and cultural institutions are increasingly drawn to markets offering greater capital and scale.<\/p>\n
\n\tAgainst that backdrop, Weir\u2019s plan sets out to change where funding comes from and what it should buy.<\/p>\n
\n\tHistorically, the BFC\u2019s revenue has been dominated by patron income and brand partnerships. Government funding, by contrast, has been trending downward. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf you look at our government funding over the last four years, it\u2019s decreasing, not only in line with inflation but in real terms. The growth for us is actually in philanthropy and that patron network, alongside brand partnerships and true cross?cultural, relevant partnerships,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tUnder BFC 2030, the organization will adopt what she calls a \u201crenewed model of philanthropic and strategic patronage,\u201d which means cultivating a deeper base of foundation-led and individual patronage, expanding internationally and treating The Fashion Awards more explicitly as \u201cthe world\u2019s biggest fashion fundraiser.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShe also sees an under-exploited opportunity in regional and local government funds, particularly as the BFC leans harder into the \u201cBritish\u201d in its name by focusing on talent across the country, rather than in London. <\/p>\n
\n\tWeir is eyeing mayoral funding that\u2019s already been earmarked for the creative industries. She said mayors across the U.K. were given \u201csignificant funding to spend on creative industries programming. So how can the BFC access some of that? And then how can we create opportunities for designers through that funding?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tShe is also focusing on the BFC\u2019s new Fashion Assembly program, which was unveiled last year. The program is already moving into the pilot phase in Hull and Leicester, reconnecting designers with the schools and communities that shaped them in order to champion arts education and showcase fashion as a viable career.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s about embedding fashion and creativity as a career option in early?stage education, so that the pipeline of talent is really being supported at that young adult stage,\u201d Weir said. Supporting talent nationwide also gives the BFC more capital when it taps regional and local authorities for support, she added.<\/p>\n
\n\tLayered on top of those local initiatives is BFC International, one of the organization\u2019s four strategic growth initiatives that goes beyond sporadic overseas activity.<\/p>\n
\n\tWeir said she is still exploring how to work with key foreign markets, potentially using them as a fundraising base and an export accelerator for U.K. designers.<\/p>\n
\n\tShe noted that a recent trip to Mumbai resulted in the Indian label Raw Mango taking a slot on the London Fashion Week schedule in February. She described that as \u201cthe first salvo\u201d in her pursuit of deeper international partnerships.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the coming months she plans to unveil an international advisory board that brings together experts from key territories who can explore \u201cwhere opportunity is to be found.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWeir is just as focused on what happens once the money flows in. In a noticeable break with the past, she insists that simply cutting checks and handing out trophies is no longer enough in a volatile and increasingly direct?to?consumer landscape.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cGone are the days when you can give just cash to designers. Designers are telling me they could do with more business acumen, that they would welcome more mentoring, more coaching,\u201d she said. \u201cA menswear designer who recently visited me said, \u2018I\u2019m an amazing pattern?cutter, I know my customer, but what I\u2019m really worried about is how to create a successful business.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHer response has been the introduction of the BFC Mini MBA, a business resilience program for emerging fashion leaders.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a \u2018mini\u2019 MBA, to be clear on the language. It\u2019s not going to be a full business administration program, but the main driver is to help designers who want to up-skill in business resilience,\u201d Weir said, adding she is in early discussions with education institutions and brand academies about potential partnerships. The plan is to expand the curriculum, which is expected to cover business fundamentals, technology and sustainability.<\/p>\n
\n\tComplementing the business training element is the Fashion House, the last part of the four new strategic growth initiatives. It\u2019s billed as a pilot scheme that aims to unlock physical studio space via the BFC\u2019s patron network.<\/p>\n
\n\tWeir said the idea emerged from meetings with retailers, law firms and tech companies that support the BFC.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMy idea was that we could look at the patron network to see if there\u2019s any opportunity to release physical studio space for designers and to embed them into the beating heart of businesses,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd my ultimate goal is to have a BFC space that offers subsidized or affordable studio space for the designer community, either in London or across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAll four of the new strategic growth initiatives will be delivered through a structured three-year growth plan, while a fourth year will be focused on measurement and scale.<\/p>\n
\n\tDuring the interview, Weir also expressed concerns about designers\u2019 mental health and expectation?setting. She has been struck by how many of them struggle with the psychological whiplash of early acclaim, which is often quickly followed by market realities such as lack of funding, cash flow issues and dwindling routes to market. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI have been thinking, \u2018Should there be some kind of support line?\u201d Weir said, referencing the crisis hotline that\u2019s been set up for workers in the U.K. nightlife industry, which has faced a string of challenges post-COVID-19. She is exploring whether the BFC should work with experts to offer a well-being helpline and to expand mentoring beyond prize winners via an open, structured mentor committee.<\/p>\n
\n\tWeir said she is also trying to broaden the definition of success away from the dream of becoming the next Alexander McQueen or John Galliano.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s important for the BFC to recognize the permutations of what success can look like for the community. It doesn\u2019t always have to be, \u2018I took these risks. I grew really fast. I scaled. I raised.\u2019 That\u2019s great for many people, but it can also be, \u2018I wanted to create a design practice that was small?scale, sustainable and provided me with a moderate income and a decent lifestyle.\u2019 That\u2019s also valid,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tWith the internal model shifting, the BFC\u2019s flagship moments also need to evolve from stand-alone \u201cmoments\u201d into financial and cultural engines within the incubator model, she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tLondon Fashion Week, under Weir\u2019s new vision, will become \u201cthe world\u2019s laboratory for innovation and creative exchange,\u201d with a more clearly articulated value proposition.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf Paris is luxury and Milan is heritage, then London is creativity and innovation. It always has been. But it\u2019s about telling that story in a more exciting way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tShe wants the annual Fashion Awards gala to be a bigger fundraising engine and a platform for the stories that underpin British fashion\u2019s soft power.<\/p>\n
\n\tUnder the 2030 strategy, the Fashion Awards event is explicitly described as a \u201cfuture?facing global fundraiser that amplifies British fashion\u2019s influence and international authority,\u201d with a renewed emphasis on public participation and cross?cultural partnerships with film, theater and sport.<\/p>\n
\n\tLastly, a key difference from the past is Weir\u2019s insistence on data and AI as tools of both advocacy and efficiency. \u201cAt the BFC, we can do much more with better data practices. Government stakeholders want to understand the true value of fashion and the impact we\u2019re having on the industry,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\n\tTo that end, Weir said the BFC is preparing to launch a data and innovation hub, a funded program that will produce sector?wide reporting, help model the impact of policies such as VAT rules and provide the BFC\u2019s network with insight.<\/p>\n
#Laura #Weir #Rewires #BFC #Targets #Million #Pounds #Revenue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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