The executive creative director of Selfridges, Laura Weir, has been appointed as the next chief executive of the British Fashion Council (BFC), which promotes British fashion abroad and hosts London Fashion Week.
Weir, who has been the organisation’s CEO for the past 15 years and announced her decision to leave in September, will take over on 28th April. The BFC revealed this in a statement. Rush will leave the company in June, bringing the fiscal year 2024–2025 to a close and providing “enough time” for a transfer.
The BFC was pleased to announce Laura Weir as its new CEO, according to David Pemsel, the organization’s chair, who added that throughout her career over the past 20 years, Laura has collaborated with both established and up-and-coming designers, creative talent, industry leaders, and the media. This has given her the strategic foresight to lead initiatives and positive transformation while also understanding the complexities of the fashion industry ecosystem.
As the BFC’s CEO, Weir will lead the organisation and collaborate with designers, business associates, and governmental entities to “unlock and elevate creative talent” in order to further the organisation’s purpose of promoting British fashion.
Its main goals, according to the non-profit, are to promote responsible growth that encourages creativity by working together to help the industry expand and create opportunities for talent, to support innovation through the Institute of Positive Fashion, to prepare businesses for positive change, and to promote British fashion from London Fashion Week.
Weir is an experienced fashion journalist who has contributed to British Vogue, The Sunday Times, and ES Magazine, the London Evening Standard. In January 2023, she began working for the British shop Selfridges, where she now leads the marketing, communications, and creative departments.
Weir stated that she is honoured to be leading the BFC’s next chapter at a significant and exciting moment for the British fashion sector in her remarks about joining the BFC. She is excited to collaborate with the BFC team to promote creativity and culture in order to spur the expansion of British fashion both nationally and internationally.
