London fashionistas and its fashion week had been struck by the pandemic more severely than other fashion capitals. With a growingly young and vibrant creative scene, in fact, a string of London Fashion Week events with scant programming, vehement protests from activists like Extinction Rebellion, and the absence of the biggest names in traditional luxury, starting with Burberry who had chosen to follow its own personal calendar, there was still concern for the future of London Fashion Week.A status that changed with the release of the calendar for the SS23 season, which features 110 brands and includes, among them, Riccardo Tisci’s Burberry, JW Anderson, who is returning to his hometown after two seasons in Milan, and, surprisingly, Raf Simons, who will exibit in the English capital instead.

The most intriguing aspect of the whole thing, though, is that these great designers are returning to London at a moment in history when independent British designers are experiencing enormous success in the fashion industry. David Koma, Simone Rocha, Chet Lo, S.S. Daley, Nensi Dojaka, Di Petsa, Paolo Carzana, Stefan Cooke, and Daniel W. Fletcher are just a few names from the new guard that has emerged in recent years and that appears set to continue.In fact, the community of British designers has developed a more reliable reputation with both critics and insider audiences, becoming the real and most reliable alternative to Italian and French commercial brands, which continue to rule the luxury rankings, in the relative silence of condensed or digital editions.