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London Fashion Week Show at British Museum Irks Greece

Designer Erdem Moralioglu chose the impressive setting of the Athens Parthenon sculptures showroom at the British Museum. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Designer Erdem Moralioglu chose the impressive setting of the Athens Parthenon sculptures showroom at the British Museum. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
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London Fashion Week Show at British Museum Irks Greece

Designer Erdem Moralioglu chose the impressive setting of the Athens Parthenon sculptures showroom at the British Museum. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
Designer Erdem Moralioglu chose the impressive setting of the Athens Parthenon sculptures showroom at the British Museum. HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

The Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, expressed her anger late on Saturday after a London Fashion week show took place in front of the Parthenon Marbles at the British Museum.
Designer Erdem Moralioglu chose the impressive setting of the Athens Parthenon sculptures showroom at the British Museum to present the autumn winter 2024 collection of his eponymous brand Erdem, inspired by Greek singer Maria Callas and her interpretation of the opera Medea in 1953, AFP said.
"By organizing a fashion show in the halls where the Parthenon Sculptures are exhibited, the British Museum, once again, proves its zero respect for the masterpieces of Pheidias," Mendoni said in a statement.
"The directors of the British Museum trivialize and insult not only the monument but also the universal values that it transmits. The conditions of display and storage of the sculptures, at the Duveen Gallery, are constantly deteriorating. It is time for the stolen and abused sculptural masterpieces to shine in the Attic light," she added.
The sculptures were taken from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Greece in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, the earl of Elgin.
Athens maintains the marbles, which are a major draw for visitors at London's British Museum, were stolen, while the UK claims they were obtained legally.
The 1963 British Museum Act prohibits the removal of objects from the institution's collection.
But officials at the museum, which is under pressure to repatriate other foreign antiquities, have not ruled out a possible loan deal.
Late November, a diplomatic spat raised eyebrows when Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his "displeasure" over UK counterpart Rishi Sunak's last minute cancellation of a bilateral meeting set to discuss their long-running dispute over the Parthenon Marbles.
At issue for London was the Greek leader's comments in a BBC interview a day before the meeting about ownership of the 2,500-year-old marbles.
Sunak was allegedly angry about Mitsotakis's comments that having some of the marbles in London and others in Athens was like cutting the Mona Lisa in half.

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Sources: Shein Weighs Sale of Less Than 10% of Company in London IPO

A mannequin with a Shein sign stands in an office of a lingerie maker at WeMet Industrial Park, in Guanyun county of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
A mannequin with a Shein sign stands in an office of a lingerie maker at WeMet Industrial Park, in Guanyun county of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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Sources: Shein Weighs Sale of Less Than 10% of Company in London IPO

A mannequin with a Shein sign stands in an office of a lingerie maker at WeMet Industrial Park, in Guanyun county of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
A mannequin with a Shein sign stands in an office of a lingerie maker at WeMet Industrial Park, in Guanyun county of Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo

Fast fashion retailer Shein is considering asking UK regulators to waive listing rules that require at least 10% of its shares to be sold to the public in its planned London flotation, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company is exploring this option to facilitate its IPO, one of the people said, according to Reuters.
If granted, it would likely be the first time that a company in London has been allowed to list below the recent 10% rule.
Singapore-headquartered Shein, which sells $5 tops and $10 dresses mostly made in China, in June filed confidentially with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for a London listing.
However, Britain's financial regulator is taking longer than usual to approve its application, Reuters reported last week.
The people declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Shein declined to comment.
Shein was valued at $66 billion in a fundraising round last year. A 10% flotation at that valuation would make the IPO worth $6.6 billion. The biggest European IPO this year was perfume and fashion company Puig's $2.9 billion deal, according to Dealogic.
The current valuation of Shein and how much it is looking to raise via the London listing was not immediately known.
London changed its listing rules in 2021 to boost the attractiveness of the venue for companies. It cut the proportion of shares an issuer is required to float to 10% from 25%, reducing potential barriers for large IPOs, the FCA said at the time.
In July, Britain ushered in the biggest reform of company listing rules in more than three decades to help it compete more effectively with New York and the European Union for new issuers.
Shein began to explore a listing on the London Stock Exchange early this year, Reuters reported in May, citing sources. The China-founded company's original plan to list in New York was derailed after opposition from US lawmakers.
Shein is also waiting for China's securities regulator to approve its plans for a London IPO, Reuters previously reported. Its revenues are expected to hit $50 billion this year, up 55% from 2023, according to Coresight Research.