The event aims to encourage sustainability dialogues between fashion pioneers and the city’s ultra-fast fashion presence
After a decade-long absence, Manchester Fashion Week is set to return from September 11 to 13. The three-day event will be held at the newly refurbished Campfield, a creative hub inside a renovated market hall in the city’s St. John’s neighborhood. The event is aligned with the British Fashion Council’s recently released strategic update, in which new CEO Laura Weir outlined plans to decentralize the fashion industry from London, recognizing nationwide talent and making U.K. excellence more accessible.
It will include fashion shows and presentations from the top local menswear and outerwear designers as well as conversations regarding sustainability, technology, manufacturing, and textile heritage, including panels from both heritage brands and next-generation innovators. It aims to confront industry challenges, with core focuses on circularity, responsible production and technology.
The event is rooted in Manchester’s history as a city of innovation. With regards to sustainability in particular, Manchester Fashion Week is taking a unique approach, calling brands in rather than out, and attempting to reconcile the city’s high street heritage with environmental goals. Aiming for education rather than admonition, they’re encouraging dialogue between forward-thinking sustainability pioneers and ultra-fast fashion players like Boohoo and Missguided, both of which were founded in the city—a strategy opposite from other industry initiatives such as France’s eco-taxation and advertising bans. The hope is not to rein in fast fashion brands, but to improve their practices.
Overall, organizers hope that the event will serve as a starting point for the city’s fashion reset, and that it will challenge the industry status-quo, redefining what a fashion week can be, and acknowledging its potential as a platform for transformation.