by Sharon Feiereisen
Though the big news has been the move from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center for the New York Fashion Week shows next season, London Fashion Week is seeing some changes of their own – namely that the Somerset House will be the new centralized home for the London Fashion week shows come September.
Inside the Somerset House is a Tom Dixon-designed bar overlooking the Thames and there are a number of different rooms for London’s various designers to put on their shows. The house is under contract to be home to London Fashion Week for the next five seasons and director Gwyn Miles told Vogue UK that people are “so fascinated by fashion that we want to give them the opportunity to see it. Currently half of Somerset House comprises the rent-paying Inland Revenue, but opposite where the shows will happen is the Courtauld Institute. Eventually we’d like to move out the tax men so that the entire place will be full of creative industries – as well as a hotel eventually. I’m the landlady so as well as making sure the place doesn’t fall down I want to work on developing it into a cultural centre. It’s a very exciting time for us and I hope the designers will love showing here. We have lots of rooms and lots of ideas.”
In the same way that Bryant Park houses an ice skating rink in the winter, the Somerset House has one in their courtyard, and in September there will be an exhibition tent housed in the same space (the rink opens Christmas). Vogue UK is reporting that a catwalk tent will be housed on the terrace in September, while the inner hall will be used either as influential fashion image maker Nick Knight’s. temporary studio or, come February, another catwalk space.
Images courtesy of the Fashion Spot forums.
