The next chapter for London fashion week: Storytelling, sustainability, and substance

This article by Dr Brett Staniland, creator, model & activist, and Kolsquare urges London Fashion Week to prioritise sustainability and responsible influence over hype. It highlights the need to move past “see-and-be-seen” influencers and instead back creators who educate, critique, and inspire. By using tools like Kolsquare’s Ethical Influence Checklist, brands can ensure partnerships are transparent, credible, and values-led - positioning London as a global leader in both fashion and influencer marketing

Brett has spent years navigating both the runways and the research, bridging creativity, ethics and cultural commentary. His work, combined with Kolsquare’s perspective on data-driven and values-led influence, offers a unique lens on the future of fashion in the UK.

London has always been a cultural powerhouse. In fashion, it remains one of the most exciting and diverse capitals — but it also faces unique challenges in maintaining global influence and credibility.

While London Fashion Week has led with bold initiatives, like becoming the first of the Big Four to adopt Copenhagen’s sustainability requirements for brands on schedule, the presence of major fast fashion players alongside emerging designers raises an important question: how do we ensure that every platformed brand reflects the industry’s long-term sustainability goals?

As Brett notes, “There’s an opportunity right now. Consumers are becoming tired of big brands and logos they can’t trust. There’s a growing appetite for craftsmanship and storytelling from honest brands with real values.”

By prioritising these qualities, London Fashion Week can strengthen its position as a leader in responsible fashion innovation.

The Challenges Behind the Curtain

Perception and investment
Unlike Milan or Paris, fashion in the UK has historically been undervalued as an industry. Brett explains, “In Milan, working in fashion is seen as one of the best industries to be part of. In England, people often dismiss it as unserious or temporary. That perception has led to underfunding and a lack of respect for the craft — yet it’s an industry that employs thousands and has a major environmental footprint. If we took it seriously, we could tackle those impacts more effectively.”

Sustainability funding gaps
Many sustainability projects still rely on funding from large corporations, which can create tensions between ideals and practical realities. As Brett puts it, “It’s so underfunded that the money often comes from big brands using the opportunity to greenwash. That’s a challenge we need to face head-on if we want to maintain integrity.”

Aligning shows with industry needs
Fashion Week remains a vital showcase, but behind the scenes, designers are under pressure to deliver more collections than ever, often with limited resources. “Fashion Week can sometimes be a glossy surface over an industry that’s struggling,” Brett says. “Some brands pull in celebrities to distract from problems, others push out trends at a pace that fuels ultra-fast fashion. We need more stories, more substance, and less ‘stuff for stuff’s sake.’”

London Fashion Week Creators: From Visibility to Value

The “see-and-be-seen” creator is outdated. A new wave is emerging — fashion commentators, cultural critics, sustainability educators and brand storytellers. These creators are building loyal communities who trust their perspective, not just their wardrobe.

Yet the industry seemingly still rewards visibility over contribution. As Brett notes, algorithms and PR teams have long prioritised agreeable, trend-driven content over nuance and critique. This has fuelled a cycle where creators gain clout simply by being present, rather than supporting the designers, message or the craft.

Responsible influence offers a different route. By collaborating with creators who use their platform to educate, critique, and inspire, brands can extend the life and depth of their London Fashion Week presence beyond the runway moment. These are the voices who can translate a show’s values into cultural relevance, explain why a brand’s sustainability commitments matter, and call out tokenism when they see it.

For UK brands, the shift means asking:

• Does this creator’s work reflect our values, not just our aesthetic?
   
• Are they transparent about partnerships and their own practices?
   
• Do they challenge audiences to think, not just shop?
   

From our shared perspective, brands need both cultural insight and hard data to make sure creator partnerships live up to their promise. That means looking beyond style and reach, and into trust, compliance and audience fit.

Together, we recommend:

• Compliance Score - instantly see whether a creator correctly labels sponsored posts and meets consumer protection laws in their region, ensuring campaigns remain legally compliant and values-aligned.
• Credibility Score - detect suspicious spikes in follower counts or engagement to ensure you’re partnering with authentic voices, not inflated metrics.
• Audience Demographics - drill down into age, gender, location, language, and interests to ensure the creator’s community matches your target audience.           
• Alignment - Check who else the creators work for, can you clearly see a brand alignment, and association with a specific type of brand? Do they care about what they do, or are they just here to sell and make money - Do they have a voice, and how do they use it?
• Achieve repurposable or collaborative content - Using creators who make highly-produced content allows for more repurposable assets that can sit on the brands’ feed as well as the creators’.
• Trust - A key creator has consistent engagement from people who trust the creator and their work, regularly engaging in meaningful comments over “flame emojis”. They may have other means of communicating to their community like an active broadcast channel, Substack etc.

When brands combine these kinds of tools with a commitment to elevating creators who educate, challenge, and inspire, London Fashion Week can become a global leader in responsible influence.

Building a More Sustainable London Fashion Week

Funding
Match public support with creative independence, ensuring that funding structures enable innovation without compromising on values.

Representation
Platform voices that contribute to lasting change, not just immediate hype.

Creator–brand partnerships
Prioritise creators who bring purpose to campaigns, ensuring that commercial relationships reflect shared values and goals.


A Shared Call for Progress

London’s strength has always been its boldness and its diversity of ideas. By harnessing those qualities and combining them with a commitment to transparency, sustainability, and inclusivity, London Fashion Week can set a new standard for how fashion weeks evolve.

“When people think of British fashion, names like Vivienne Westwood and Lee McQueen come to mind — creatives who were bold, brave, and unapologetically themselves. We should take inspiration from them and champion those willing to use their voice for progress.” - Dr Brett Staniland

The future of fashion isn’t just about what’s on the runway — it’s about the stories we tell and the partnerships we choose to build.

Want to put values into action?

We’ve created The Ethical Influence Checklist for UK Fashion & Beauty Brands - a 10 point checklist to help you stress-test your next activation.

It includes:

• Brett’s commentary on what responsible influence for fashion brands looks like in practice
• Kolsquare’s perspective on values-led creator partnerships
• A step-by-step guide to assess creator alignment, transparency and impact