London Fashion Week

Toned down ... London Fashion Week has reflected the lean economic times with designers choosing colours and designs with more staying power and several US buyers pulling out.
Photo: AFP

The focus was more on who was in the audience when London's premier fashion event began today because designers said US recession fears had made Russia and Asia the markets to target.

Top US buyers from Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus had jolted London Fashion Week by skipping it this year as the recession fears and a strong pound had made the quirky designers Britain is famous for too expensive for American tastes.

Graeme Black, who unveils his autumn-winter collection on Friday, caters for the Russian elite who think nothing of a shopping trip abroad and have made their country the world's fastest growing emerging market for luxury goods.

"In Russia there is an amazing excitement, a euphoria for things that are new," Black said.

"They don't mind spending money but want something very special and unique - there's no price resistance."

So with the London fashion industry still trying to play catch up with more prestigious and commercially successful Paris and Milan, the event's organisers have shifted their focus from the West to the booming East.

"We have attendance from emerging markets and we still have very strong representation from Europe, so it's not all about the United States anymore," British Fashion Council chief executive Hilary Riva told reporters.

"The US, Europe, Russia, Middle East and Far East are all key markets for our designers," said Riva.

There are more buyers from Asia and the Middle East this year than in the past and the international media list also underlines the shift.