London Fashion Week, which is under new leadership after 16 years, opens Thursday with hopes of reinvigorating its runway schedule and easing the financial woes of its young designers.

“This season marks… the beginning of a new era for British fashion,” said Laura Weir, former creative director of luxury department store Selfridges, who replaced Caroline Rush as the head of the British Fashion Council (BFC) in April.

Weir faces an uphill battle to allay concerns about the relevance and international standing of the fashion week, with the departure in recent years of big fashion names to its star-studded counterparts in Milan, Paris and New York.

“My main objective is to ensure London Fashion Week remains the ultimate platform to showcase and celebrate the very best of British creativity

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