Liverpool Fashion Week is setting its sights on international expansion, with founder Amanda Moss seeking multi-million-pound investment following another successful event that saw its opening night sell out.
The event brought together designers, models, industry professionals and fashion enthusiasts to celebrate creativity and emerging talent, reinforcing Liverpool’s growing reputation as a destination for fashion.
This year’s catwalk featured an exciting mix of established and emerging designers, including Haus of Vienna, whose owner Melissa Reeves previously modelled at Liverpool Fashion Week 12 years ago when the event was held at Newzbar.
Returning brands included Sunsibility UV Protection Clothing and GoGairy Hand Painted Leather, alongside 20-year-old Liverpool designer Lilium Reverie.
Other designers showcasing their collections included Club M, House of Winter Rose, Nigeria-based SiSi Sewing and Seraphic Fashion, which travelled from Birmingham to participate.
The event also attracted fashion executives from London, with one industry visitor describing the production as “a brilliant and very well produced show”.
Liverpool Fashion Week generated more than half a million social media views in just two days, highlighting its growing audience reach and the commercial opportunities available to designers, brands and potential investors.
Now, after more than 15 years of independently developing the event, founder Amanda Moss believes the time has come to transform Liverpool Fashion Week into a major international fashion platform.
Amanda said:
“Liverpool Fashion Week has the history, the audience, the experience and the infrastructure. What it needs now is the investment to unlock its full potential.
“People have travelled from India, Dubai, Europe and the USA to take part. Models have been mentored at Liverpool Fashion Week before going on to New York and Paris Fashion Weeks.
“Local designers have used Liverpool Fashion Week as a platform to launch their brands, including Karen Molby, GoGairy Hand Painted Leathers, who has had commissions from rock band Saxon, Karen Gold, Raine & Bea, who has since designed for Madonna, and Ngolela, who went on to design for Shein.
“I’ve spent more than 15 years building this platform, developing relationships, bringing designers into Liverpool and creating opportunities for people in the fashion industry.
“I have demonstrated that there is an audience, there is demand and there is a commercial opportunity. But there is a limit to what can be achieved through independent funding alone.
“I don’t want Liverpool Fashion Week simply to continue doing what it has always done. It deserves to accelerate to another level.
“We are now looking at multi-million-pound investment to develop the event into a much larger fashion, business, media and commercial platform, with the ambition to attract international designers, major brands, industry partnerships and global audiences.”
The ambitious plans would build on Liverpool’s established cultural identity and creative reputation, positioning the city as an internationally competitive fashion destination.
Amanda believes significant investment could help Liverpool Fashion Week deliver wider economic benefits, attract visitors and create employment opportunities across the creative industries.
She added:
“Liverpool has an incredible creative community, but we need to think beyond simply putting on a fashion show once a year.
“This is about building an asset, creating opportunities, attracting investment and putting Liverpool on the international fashion calendar.”
