A journalist by trade and training, Weir brings an editorial lens to everything she does. Almost a year into the role, the CEO presents her 2030 strategy, unveiled today.
It’s a rare occurrence to be interviewing your former boss, but this is what I found myself doing back in February, a few days ahead of London Fashion Week and in the offices of the British Fashion Council .
Before taking the helm as BFC chief executive in April 2025, Laura Weir served as the executive creative director of Selfridges, where I also worked. And before that, Weir was a journalist and editor — most notably having led the London Evening Standard’s weekly supplement, ES Magazine, between 2015 and 2020. Weir brings that editorial lens to everything she does. At Selfridges, she encouraged the creative teams to think reactively and respond to cultural news stories on traditionally editorial channels like socials, but also on all visual merchandising touchpoints within the store, including its famous windows. She is doing the same with the BFC. Her 2030 strategy is being unveiled today, though I had the chance to study the 64 slides ahead of this interview. The thing that stands out the most throughout is an intention to label and explain things clearly, while also reangling certain narratives. One such example is London’s role as a talent incubator, which has historically been perceived as less than positive, with designers often flying the coop for the bright lights of Milan or Paris . Below is part of the conversation Weir and I had about her BFC 2030: Access, Creativity, Growth strategy, edited for clarity. Vogue: Your experience of the British fashion industry is multifaceted, having held media roles in both consumer and B2B titles as well as two years at a retailer. What were the pain points you had already identified when you began your role at the BFC? When I joined the British Fashion Council, I came as a stakeholder. I had been a member of the press that dealt with the British Fashion Council, and I had worked at Selfridges as a patron of the British Fashion Council. I had seen the greatness of the organization, and I’d heard and experienced the frustrations. Caroline Rush, who was the leader for 16 years, built incredible foundations and a really resilient personnel. As an organization, the BFC was in a good position. But I felt there needed to be greater clarity around its purpose. What is it here to do? And is the activity meeting the needs of the market? Because it’s changed so dramatically in the last five years: wholesale has completely shifted since Covid, Brexit, tariffs... I think now is a really good time to get the BFC fit for the future. Vogue: For years, it’s felt like London Fashion Week’s standing as a talent incubator wasn’t something to be proud of, with everyone maligning that all of its best talent eventually leaves for Paris or Milan. In the new strategy, you make a point of embracing the role of incubator. What are the opportunities you see for the UK fashion industry in doing so? Prizes and programs have always been part of the BFC’s strategy. The scheme used to be called Designer Initiatives. And I’ve just renamed it Prizes and Programmes, because it now encompasses designer initiatives, as well as scholarships and other young people-facing programs. As part of that, we give money to young designers and we also organize mentoring. I’m intent on refining the mentoring part so that it includes business resilience. You might want a moderate business with a small team that facilitates a low-key lifestyle, or you might want to scale to a multi-million-pound company. Both are great, what’s important is that we’re upskilling and sharing with designers lessons in how to appropriately spend the funding they get from us. Then there should also be a valid space for those who want to just practice creativity and fashion, those who don’t want to start a business or become creative directors. It’s not all about creative directors. At the same time, I think we’ve been really solid on emerging talent. But when I talk to more established businesses by virtue of how volatile the market is, they’re really struggling. So how can we present prizes or programs that support them at that stage of growth, and not just the beginning. We’ve got Fashion Trust, but is there anything else we can do? I’m reviewing all of that in line with the new strategy. Vogue: Are you able to share examples of how you are reviewing those programs? There is City Wide, which is a program of talks we host across the country during fashion week, in partnership with retail patrons. I think there’s so much potential in it, as it’s in line with our aim to take fashion outside London and drive a British fashion community. City Wide is already great, but it can be better designed into a more compelling proposition. Another example is our naming conventions. So much work at the BFC goes into prizes and programs, but it’s hard to know if you don’t work here. Before starting, I didn’t understand how the patrons worked, that we had this network of philanthropic patrons and strategic patrons. You know, our patrons span Chanel to Marks & Spencer to high-net-worth individuals — there is an entire network whose purpose is to support the future of British fashion. We need to tell that story better. Vogue: And what are some of the initiatives you are introducing? You have already announced Fashion Assembly spearheaded by Vogue’s Sarah Mower. Yes, we are piloting that program in Hull and Leicester before the end of this academic year. That’s really about the early stage of the pipeline — to tell kids in schools you can have a career in fashion and it doesn’t have to be as a creative director. It can be as a pattern-cutter, a seamstress, or in the head office of a brand. They can be part of this community in many ways. We want to plug that gap of deprioritization of arts education that we’ve seen over recent years. We are also working on a mini MBA. It means partnering with an education institution to create an administrative course that our members can take part in:UK Fashion House, which answers the need for affordable studio spaces. People are working from their bedrooms again. I want to explore the idea of working with our patron network to unlock physical spaces. What would it look like if some of our patrons hosted some of our network, either for masterclasses with their own staff or a studio space for a set period? Then there is BFC International. I’m really interested in how we create global opportunities for our network. How can we create opportunities for designers to work internationally? There’s the trunk show model, which is a classic, but is it also about directories of great independent retailers in Dallas? Is it about partnerships with big Indian companies to drive growth for the BFC, so that we can put more money into fueling the future of fashion? This is all very nascent and iterative, and we’ll learn as we go. But these are the kind of ideas we are exploring. Vogue: By taking ownership of the talent incubator role, are you also hoping for more investment from international partners? I think there needs to be recognition of how the talent that was nurtured here feeds the fashion ecosystem. A big part of the European fashion industry is populated by British-grown talent. Another thing I am reviewing is the scholarships. We have existing brand partner scholarships with Chanel, Dior , and Joe Casely-Hayford. Moving forward, the focus will be on expanding that brand-partnered scholarship model, which should enable us to deepen their impact. There needs to be that feedback loop. We’re driving the talent pipeline by virtue of the generosity of our patrons. So if everyone’s leaving for Paris or Milan, that’s great because it’s testament to the skills that we have here. But we need to make sure we keep fueling the system. Vogue: I remember seeing you at a Stella McCartney show just before you joined the BFC and asking if you would try to bring her back to London Fashion Week. Is it actually a goal to bring back London-born labels that show elsewhere? It’s not the only way. What we don’t want to do is lament the loss of talent. There is a world where that’s something to be really proud of, and that’s our role. And we keep building talent and we keep supplying the ecosystem with the best creatives because no one does it like us. That’s our brand. If Paris is luxury and Milan is heritage, London is about creativity and innovation. And of course, as part of that, my goal is to bring back some of those names to fashion week. But fashion week is one part of what we do as a BFC. Which brings me back to the need to tell the story of the completeness of the organization’s output. Vogue: Speaking of fashion week, the strategy also notes that the BFC teams will reimagine LFW and the Fashion Awards. Could you explain what that means in practice? Will there still be two London Fashion Week events in September and in February? I think we need to look carefully at the role of September and February. September is great. It’s only on the ascendant, and we’re getting more participation. I think February is the part that really needs creative attention, because there’s an opportunity for us to build more flexibility into fashion week as a platform so that it’s driving this business resilience. I’m hearing from lots of participants that they are not able to show twice a year. But I’m hearing from others that they need to show twice a year, because they’re at the stage where that supports their sales cycle. So we have to look at February and think: does it become more of a cultural and international showcase? What would it look like if we hosted a different nation every February, whose designers came to London and collaborated with us? I’m looking at creative ideas and for ways to answer the feedback I get, which is really mixed. Vogue: Is it possible for a non-profit like the BFC to support those different visions? I think it is, through the IP that we’re developing. We have City Wide for anyone who wants to show outside London and off-schedule. And if you want to show digitally, that’s great because we’re going to introduce more live streaming as part of the City Wide proposition. If you want to show on-schedule, then brilliant because platforming talent on the catwalk is what we’re strong at. There is a kind of unique demand on the BFC to answer a lot of things for a lot of people, but I hope through refining the IP and getting really clear about the purpose of fashion week and the purpose of February versus September, we can start to really build opportunities that work for almost everyone. But not everyone, because you just can’t please everyone. Vogue: And what can you share about your reimagining of the Fashion Awards? It felt like there was a frisson in the air at the event in December. We hit record fundraising, and for me, the Fashion Awards is testament to the collective power of our industry. So I’m currently working to the slogan of “The world’s biggest fashion fundraiser”. Because that’s why we do it. Like it’s all fun and everyone looks great, but every penny that is sold in terms of tickets and tables goes back into the BFC Foundation, to drive the impact through the prizes and programs that we’ve talked about. We need to remind people of that. We are also looking at new partnership opportunities. We don’t have any sponsored awards at the moment. We’ve also introduced new awards; the costume designer award was a big decision last year. Driving the cultural connection between fashion, film, music, and art is also part of my strategy. Vogue: We started this chat talking about your background in journalism and how it informs everything you do. One way I’ve seen you do that at Selfridges was through your insistence on clearly naming things. I always like to think of Ronseal, and its slogan: “Does exactly what it says on the tin”. I have some cornerstones of how I operate, and one of them is simplicity and clarity of message. And when you are leading an organization, which I believe is here to serve and support, you have to be very clear about what it does and the impact you’re driving. Vogue: What do you hope will define your era at the BFC? I think it’s a time of opportunity and transformation across the board, which comes down to AI and the fourth industrial revolution and the profound impact that’s going to have on our industry. I think we’re on the precipice of change, and that’s why I took this job. It’s exciting. On a personal note, I’m here because I wanted to move into a role that was in service to the industry that brought me up. I will leave at some point and a new CEO will come in, and it’s my responsibility to leave an organization that will continue to serve fashion for years to come.
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