Burberry Set for 'Britishness' Refocus at London Fashion Week

Burberry Set for 'Britishness' Refocus at London Fashion Week
TT
20

Burberry Set for 'Britishness' Refocus at London Fashion Week

Burberry Set for 'Britishness' Refocus at London Fashion Week

London fashion week kicks off Friday with Daniel Lee's debut as Burberry creative director among the highlights, as the brand looks set to return to its British roots.

The five-day event is dedicated to Vivienne Westwood, the doyenne of British design, who died in December aged 81, AFP said.

"Her work not only changed the fashion industry, giving birth to and defining punk, but it also drove positive change globally," the British Fashion Council said in a statement.

London fashion week will feature 47 catwalk shows and a host of other events as well as playing host to Ukrainian fashion week, displaced by the ongoing conflict.

Three Ukrainian designers -- Frolov, Ksenia Schnaider and Paskal -- will show their works as part of the Support Ukrainian Fashion initiative.

New names on the schedule for the digital/physical hybrid event include Noon By Noor, Perte D'Ego, Sinead Gorey, Talia Byre and Tove.

Ahead of Lee's Burberry debut on Monday, fashion watchers have already picked up strong hints about where he intends to take the brand.

Lee, the former creative director of Bottega Veneta, took over from Italian designer Riccardo Tisci in October 2022.

- Iconic logo returns -
In a teaser released earlier this month, his first creative campaign features a cast of British talent including Lennon Gallagher, Raheem Sterling, Liberty Ross, rapper Shygirl and Vanessa Redgrave -- along with South Korean actress Jun Ji-hyun -- shot in Trafalgar Square and on Albert Bridge.

Although the advertisements featured existing products not designed by Lee, they appear to give a clear indication of his intention to put the emphasis firmly back on the brand's British heritage.

Burberry's iconic equestrian knight logo has also made a comeback, having been ditched by Tisci in 2018.

Another highlight of the autumn/winter 2023 collections will be Moncler Genius's debut, which will go up against Burberry on Monday.

The Art of Genius 2023 will be a "live show on a grand scale", aiming to go "beyond fashion" through an exploration of the power of collaboration across the creative industries, according to the brand.

The line-up will include previous friends and collaborators such as Alicia Keys, Rick Owens and Pharrell Williams.

"It feels like a huge relief to be able to hold London fashion week again," British Fashion Council head Caroline Rush told AFP.

September's event had to be largely scaled back due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, just as the fashion world was getting back on its feet after the pandemic.

Paying tribute to Westwood, Rush said she "in many ways encapsulated what people think of when they think of British fashion -- that creative freedom, the ability to really challenge societal norms".

- 'Enormous legacy' -
Rush said a memorial service for Westwood on Thursday -- attended by a host of famous faces from Kate Moss to Victoria Beckham -- had been a chance to remember her not just for her "brilliant designs" but also for her activism.

"She has an enormous legacy... It's hard to believe that she is no longer with us," she said.

"But I think there is a sense that her spirit lives on through the creativity of the many young designers who were inspired by her."



Shein Gains UK Approval for London IPO, Awaits China Nod

FILE PHOTO: A company logo for fashion brand Shein is seen on a pile of gift bags on its Christmas bus as part of a nationwide promotional tour in Liverpool, Britain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A company logo for fashion brand Shein is seen on a pile of gift bags on its Christmas bus as part of a nationwide promotional tour in Liverpool, Britain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
TT
20

Shein Gains UK Approval for London IPO, Awaits China Nod

FILE PHOTO: A company logo for fashion brand Shein is seen on a pile of gift bags on its Christmas bus as part of a nationwide promotional tour in Liverpool, Britain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A company logo for fashion brand Shein is seen on a pile of gift bags on its Christmas bus as part of a nationwide promotional tour in Liverpool, Britain, December 14, 2024. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

Online fast-fashion retailer Shein has secured approval from Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its planned initial public offering in London, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

The FCA's approval marks a significant step forward in the China-founded company's pursuit of a London listing after it confidentially filed papers with the British regulator last June.

But it will also have to contend with market turmoil caused by US President Donald Trump's 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and tighter rules on duty-free shipments from China to the US.

Shein, which sells $10 dresses and $12 jeans in more than 150 countries and was valued at $66 billion in its last fundraising round in 2023, will also need to secure approvals from Chinese regulators, notably the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), for the London float, sources have said.

The company in recent weeks informed the CSRC of the FCA's approval but has yet to receive a green light from the regulator, said one of the sources. They declined to be named as the information remains private.

Shein and the FCA declined to comment, while the CSRC did not respond to a request for comment.

Shein, whose clothes are produced at thousands of factories mostly in China, last year sought Beijing's approval to go public in London, despite the company having moved its headquarters from Nanjing, China, to Singapore in 2022.

Shein's filing with the CSRC makes it subject to Beijing's new listing rules for Chinese firms going public offshore, sources have said.

Shein does not own or operate any manufacturing facilities and instead sources its products from around 5,800 third-party contract manufacturers mainly in China, subjecting it to the CSRC's listing rules, a separate source said previously.

The rules are applied on "a substance over form" basis, giving the CSRC discretion on when and how to implement them, the source added.

Shein ships the majority of its products directly to shoppers by air in individually addressed packages.

Under the CSRC's rules, a host of authorities such as the National Development and Reform Commission, which supervises foreign holdings in local firms, the cybersecurity regulator and others may get involved in approving offshore IPO applications.

'DE MINIMIS' ISSUES

Shein, founded by China-born entrepreneur Sky Xu, initially aimed to go public in London in the first half of this year, contingent on securing approvals from regulators in both the UK and China, Reuters reported in January.

But its prospects have come under a cloud in recent months as the Trump administration moved to end the "de minimis" duty exemption, which allows shipments worth less than $800 duty-free entry to the US and has helped Shein keep prices low.

Trump last week signed an executive order ending de minimis for shipments from China and Hong Kong effective on May 2.

The measure's removal could force it to hike prices in the US, its biggest market, though the change has been widely expected and Shein has sought to adapt by adding suppliers in Brazil and Türkiye.

The development, along with market turmoil caused by Trump's tariffs on China, could also delay the fast-fashion group's original IPO schedule to the second half of the year, said the sources.

In February, Reuters reported that Shein was set to cut its valuation in a potential listing to around $50 billion, nearly a quarter less than the $66 billion valuation it achieved in a $2 billion private fundraising in 2023.

Shein's eventual IPO valuation will hinge on the impact of the de minimis termination on its business, sources have said. The amount to be raised in the IPO remains unclear.

Trump's trade war with China has more broadly triggered fears of resurgent inflation and weaker consumer spending in the US, muddying the outlook for retailers including Shein and its Chinese discount goods rival Temu.

The stock market volatility of the past week also makes pricing an IPO very challenging, and has caused companies like Swedish fintech Klarna to pause their listing plans.

Shein last year shifted its focus to a London listing, ending an attempt at a US IPO after pushback from US lawmakers concerned about alleged labor practices in its supply chain in China.

Shein has said it has a zero-tolerance policy for forced labor and child labor in its supply chain.