Is London Fashion Week becoming interesting again?

London has not had it easy in recent years. In a fashion world that is becoming increasingly commercial and pop, London Fashion Week has become the most teeming reservoir of young, fresh talent in Europe but at the same time has been unable to compete with the levels of attention usually attributed to Milan and Paris. Very short editions, names often known only to insiders, a creative fervor that is not matched by the low regard often paid to a fashion week that over the years has forgotten how to excite the interest of large online audiences. But for September things sound rather exciting: both Burberry and JW Anderson will return as big names, but other independent names that have since become cult objects among insiders will crowd the programming-here's which ones.

The grand return of Burberry and JW Anderson

Burberry, led by Daniel Lee, will be the center of attention as its debut FW23 collection hits stores in August, and the SS24 show will follow soon after. The show will be the second live one from the "new" Burberry, and many expect a better-tuned and more creatively balanced collection that more extensively and eloquently tells the vision Lee has developed for the brand. Indeed, after a show that had left some puzzled, Burberry's subsequent campaigns had achieved good online circulation, its bags had found favor with the public, and revenues had also risen in the ever-important Chinese market. JW Anderson, too, will make a much-anticipated return after a few seasons in Milan, fresh off its entry into Lyst's new Top 20 hottest brands of the last quarter.

What are the best independent designers showing in London?

In addition to the big names, London Fashion Week will highlight independent designers who have been making waves in the industry. Among them, Chopova Lowena and Stefan Cooke will again be inside the programming. Highly anticipated is the debut of Holzweiler, a Norwegian brand, which will move from Copenhagen Fashion Week to London, marking its consecration to mainstream runways after years of development in its native Northern Europe and its recent entry into China with the opening first store in Chengdu. Other names from the independent scene returning will be S.S. Daley, Richard Quinn, Simone Rocha, Erdem and Dilara Findikoglu among others. Absent will be Christopher Kane, which, however, after its initial problems, is back in the hands of the original owners and thus will continue its business activities.