From afar, London Fashion Week may look like a sequence of smoothly choreographed events. But before the catwalks, the cappuccinos, the cameras, the crises andoh yesthe clothes, tremendous organisational efforts are devoted to ensuring that all goes to plan.
There are thousands of unseen hands and decisions at work at LFW. To give you a peek behind the polish of it all, weve gathered some specific, illustrative pieces of information.
What goes into the making of LFW? Read on to find out...
The number of...
Shows and presentations on the official schedule: 83
canvas bags produced: 8,150
Mercedes-Benz cars shuttling press and VIPs between venues: 43
Shows with footwear provided by Christian Louboutin: 6 (, , , , , )
Rooms for LFW participants reserved at The May Fair hotel: 236
On-schedule brands with a Twitter presence: 47 (57% of the total)
Requests for tickets to the Jonathan Saunders show: 3,000
Invitations despatched to shows (average): 300
Bottles of champagne ordered for the Show Space: 350
Bottles of water ordered for Topshop Show Space: 3000
Portions of pastries ordered for the Topshop Show Space: 150
Copies of LFW The Daily printed: 50,000 per day for 200,000 total
Shows with skin finishing services from St Tropez: 2 ( and )
Shows with makeup design by MAC: 39
FASHIONGPS email invitations sent by Starworks team: 3600
Bags of Propercorn gourmet popcorn provided: 9,000
Maybelline makeup artists backstage at a show: 13 (maximum)
Maybelline mascaras distributed to models backstage (makeup artists with the brand assign each model a mascara instead of using disposable wands): 70
Drinks on the special Catwalk of Cocktails menu at Senkai: 10 (including the Galliano Sour, the Louboutin Sling and the Thanks, Its Vintage)
Shows with nail art furnished by Nail Girls: 5 (Orla Kiely, Lucas Nascimento, Bolzoni & Walsh, Erdem and )
Shows with hair design furnished by Toni & Guy: 41
Press appointments at Toni & Guy blow-dry bar: 150
NEWGEN designers sponsored by Topshop: 6 (, Holly Fulton, J.JS Lee, , Michael Van Der Ham and Simone Rocha)
International photographers and broadcasters at LFW: 350+
Models signed with Premier Model Management flying in for LFW: 30
Model fee for an on-schedule show (average, according to Premier): £500
Castings per model over LFW (average, according to Premier): 85
Value of orders placed during LFW: £100m+ (according to the BFC Value of Fashion Report 2010)
Direct value of the UK fashion industry to the UK economy: £21bn (BFC Value of Fashion Report 2010)