2013-02-14 — /travelprnews.com/ — Home to the likes of Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Thomas Burberry and Alexander McQueen, England has more than its fair share of fashion talent. It’s no wonder then that London Fashion Week is a key calendar highlight for fashion scouts, editors and entertainment hotshots around the world.
But, with icons hailing from every corner of the country – from Surrey villages to deepest Derbyshire – it’s not just England’s capital that breeds serious fashion credentials. Here are some of the country’s other top fashion celebrations and attractions.
London Fashion Week
As one of the ‘Big Four’ alongside Paris, Milan and New York, London Fashion Week sees the fashion world’s finest descend on Somerset House to strut, pout and pose, eager to make their mark and set the global style agenda.
While this is a trade only event, the capital offers unlimited activities for those in vogue. There are public fashion events such as the Alternative Fashion Week, a tribute to creativity and independent tailoring and a half-way house between student fashion and mainstream lines. Or the famous Graduate Fashion Week, where the likes of Stella McCartney and Matthew Williamson first graced their premier works. While in town, grab yourself a distinctive wardrobe piece in Europe’s busiest shopping street or marvel at the magnificence of the master of Couture at Somerset House’s Valentino exhibition, showing until March.
From May 10th, the Queen’s Gallery will put on display a fantastic collection of elite and luxurious clothing, marking court life of Tudor and Stuart England. In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion explores the changing tastes in fashionable attire through the royal courts of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.
London Fashion Week AW13 runs from 15 February to 19 February 2013.
Bath in Fashion
It’s no surprise that such a beautiful city harbours equally style-conscience people. In Georgian Bath, society people knew only too well that fashion was not just what you wore but how you wore it.
This is a legacy which Bath in Fashion looks to celebrate in its week-long showcase, with appearances from Hilary Alexandre, Sarah Mowler and Hamish Bowles from American Vogue. Discover how an artist can freeze a fashion icon forever in time or how a photograph can capture a moment in fashion.
And why stop at the show? There are plenty of ways to live fashionable when in Bath. Strut down to the Fashion Museum to see 50 fabulous frocks or the Dress of the Year. Alternatively, check out the Painted Pomp exhibition at Holburne House for a blast from styling past. The exhibition explores nine exceptional portraits of Jacobean dress.
The Octagon too will be staging a unique exhibition to mark the centenary of the birth one of Britain’s most influential fashion photographers, Norman Parkinson. View some of the 20th century’s most iconic fashion images, and uncover examples of Parkinson’s less well-known work, some of which has never before been publicly exhibited.
Bath is Fashion is held 15 – 21 April 2013.
Norwich Fashion Week
Norwich Fashion Week is one of the city’s fastest growing cultural events. The event is supported by a leading cast of nationally recognised independent retailers, high street names and budding industry talent, creating a ‘who’s who’ buzz at the forefront of the fashion scene in East Anglia.
The week is centred around a programme of visually stunning events, to keep all those from edgy to retro in check of what’s hot this season. Head to the Art’s Centre for an evening dedicated to Norwich’s favourite brand. Stay in the lanes for a fashion night out; an electric fusion of late night shopping, music and road-side entertainment. However, if you’re in the mood for a little more skin, check out Norwich Castle’s grass-root shoot of dissecting Beauty. This event will focus on street style, body art and using the street as a place of protest.
If old Hollywood glamour is more your thing, take a trip to the Old Hollywood Vintage Fair and Show to immerse yourself in classical fashion, with period make up demonstrations and cat walk shows that reminisce about styles past. It’ll provide you with a chance to pick out your petticoats and polka dots and vie to be the best dressed at the Puppet Theatre’s Best of Vintage Norwich Awards.
Norwich Fashion Week will be on 7 – 14 March 2013.
Birmingham International Fashion Week
Inspired by the vibrant fashion weeks of Los Angeles and Rio de Janiero, Birmingham Fashion Week showcases international and local talent, promoting the creative culture of the city. A selection of high profile events showcasing emerging British and international designers, luxurious haute couture, and iconic masterpieces from the world’s leading fashion houses, this premier international fashion week is a big hit with fashion enthusiasts.
But style gurus needn’t wait until the second week of March to get their style fix in Birmingham. The city is home to the iconic and highly popular Bullring Shopping Centre. Here visitors will find over 160 stores, both designer and high-street, catering for all wallets. Fashion forward, The Bullring housed the first UK Forever21 and currently houses one of the country’s four Selfridges Department stores.
Another notable event in Birmingham’s fashion calendar is The Clothes Show Live, held annually in the NEC. The perfect chance grab some exclusive designer deals and to spot your favourite style icons – past visitors to the Clothes Show Live have include Amy Winehouse, Simon Webbe, Duncan James, Dave Berry, The Saturday’s, Alesha Dixon and Fearne Cotton. Last year’s show was headlined by Gok Wan.
Birmingham Fashion Week is held 9-10 March 2013.
Manchester Fashion Week
Fashion icons Henry Holland, Sarah Burton, Wayne Hemingway, John Richmond, and Agyness Deyn all have roots in the North West, and Manchester has long flown the fashion flag up North, from game-changing designers to the inspirational street-style of its residents.
In its first year, Manchester Fashion Week debuted with shows from the luxury English label, Mulberry, as well as established brands such as Brooks Brothers, All Saints and sponsor Missguided. Manchester Fashion Week is one of the country’s most star-studded fashion events outside London, attracting the likes of Calum Best, Cheryl Cole, Caprice and Boy George.
For eager fashionistas in need of a sneak preview of what’s to come, the city will also be hosting a series of Spring/ Summer Pop-up fashion shows at the Trafford Centre in March. Experts will be bringing on-trend apparel and striking sartorial – plenty to fill your cup – to the backdrop of pumping music. Dance, music and fabulous clothes will be the order of the day.
Combine style with sport on a visit to strike a pose in fifty shades of fashion at the National Football Museum which will play host to 30 fashion shows and 15 stylish exhibitions in a five day extravaganza. Taking a look at everything from how football kits have changed over the decades to dodgy haircuts and the rise of the WAGs, this exhibition promises to be more than fashion frippery; rather an interesting insight into how the coupling of fashion and the beautiful game has changed popular culture and society.
Manchester Fashion Week begins on April 22.
Ends
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Rishika Sharma / Laura Dewar / Rebecca Holloway
VisitEngland Press Office
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Email: Rishika.Sharma@visitengland.org / Laura.Dewar@visitengland.org / Rebecca.Holloway@visitengland.org
Notes to Editors:
About England
• Historic yet contemporary, traditional yet cutting-edge, metropolitan yet wild: England is truly a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism.
• With ancient Hadrian’s Wall straddling the wild north and the world’s biggest indoor tropical rainforest nestled in the far south, England really is the ultimate mix of old and new as well as being home to some of the most iconic sites in the world, including Stonehenge, the honey-hued Georgian terraces of Bath and the towering peaks and glistening meres of the Lake District.
• Did you know that in 2010 there were 96.4 million domestic overnight trips in England, 25.5 million inbound visits and 872 million tourism day trips?
More information can be found on www.visitengland.com