Riva fights for London Fashion Week dateline

Hilary Riva, chief executive of London Fashion Week organiser the British Fashion Council, has called on her international counterparts to shuffle their dates so London Fashion Week has a five-day window next season, following New York Fashion Week's decision to move its dates back.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America plans to start New York Fashion Week on February 13 so that designers have more time to produce their collections. NYFW traditionally kicks off the international catwalks followed by LFW and then Milan, but a date switch would put LFW's timing and length in jeopardy.

Riva is expected to meet with her counterparts from New York, Milan and Paris next week to ask that they allow London a five-day window between New York and Milan and for New York to have a "soft" last day, giving international visitors time to travel between events.

Riva said: "London has the most exciting and diverse offering of all the fashion capitals. The Exhibition at LFW has Estethica and New Gen."

London Fashion Week will hold a reception in Downing Street on Monday forBritish Fashion Council partners and sponsors ahead of its 25th anniversary in February.