Move over fashion! ‘Dynamic’ London Beauty Week debuts next month

The week-long event will draw in both consumers and businesses, mirroring its sister event London Fashion Week.

Beauty is a ‘buoyant sector’​

A focus on ‘the future of the beauty industry’ would include a competition for Britain’s Next Big Beauty Brand, offering start-up Indie Brands the chance to win beauty mentoring from experts along with a central London retail space. Trend forecaster WGSN, the British Beauty Council and individuals from Covent Garden would be on the judging panel. Carla Buzasi, managing director of WGSN, said the company had this year launched WGSN Beauty to support industry in “developing the next generation of hero products” ​and so was “delighted”​ to be a part of the event and judging panel.​

Millie Kendall MBE, CEO of The British Beauty Council, said the event would be a “dynamic, experiential week of beauty”.​

“Beauty is a buoyant sector and contributes significantly to the UK economy. As a growing industry that is a force for good, we are focused on supporting brands and creating jobs via our three pillars: reputation, education and innovation,” ​Kendall said.

UK beauty worth €29.5bn​

In 2018, the UK beauty industry contributed a total of £28.4 billion (€30.8bn) to the nation’s economy – about 1.3% of the UK’s total GDP, according to a recently published report from the British Beauty Council.

The total value of consumption of beauty in the UK was pegged at £27.2bn (€29.5bn) in 2018, with hair care representing £6.3bn (€6.8bn) of this. Cosmetics purchases represented £3bn (€3.2bn).

The report suggested “demand and innovation”​ had put the beauty sector “at the heart of the UK economy”.​

The full schedule, including a breakdown of all partners, will be released this month.