London Fashion Week opened on Friday with a new push to boost online sales, as designers seek to turn the democratisation of the catwalk through live streaming and Twitter into cold, hard cash. The next five days will see more than 80 designers present their spring/summer collections, a showcase of creative talent from the likes of Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Mary Katrantzou and Christopher Kane, including a one-off show by Marchesa. More than 5,000 visitors are expected to attend but as elsewhere, the abundance of live streaming, instant updates on Twitter and Instagram, and e-commerce sites mean the latest looks are now available to anyone with an Internet connection. “London is set to be the most tech-savvy fashion capital in the world,” said Natalie Massenet, the chairman of the British Fashion Council and founder of designer fashion portal Net-a-Porter.com.
