London —

It’s a new chapter for London Fashion Week. The first to take place under the British Fashion Council’s new CEO Laura Weir, who has made her message clear: “fashion matters.”

In her opening speech on Friday, Weir doubled down on her ambition to make London “a sensational showcase of creative fashion design talent” by reducing the barriers to entry and opening the schedule to “new energy, new thinking and new ideas.” That includes participation from new and returning brands, but also a wider breadth of international editors and buyers to platform the UK capital on the global stage. Backstage, designers both new and established were cautiously optimistic at the promises being made.

Already, there are signs that the city is being taken more seriously. Earlier in the week, member

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