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BILL RADKE: Fashion designers, models, clothing buyers —
all descending on London today, for the start of London’s Fashion Week. Organizers say it’s a big money maker, even in a down economy.

Marketplace’s Stephen Beard has more from London.

STEPHEN BEARD: Mention the subject haute couture and one doesn’t think immediately of the Brits. Paris, Milan and New York do seem to be in a higher league. But the U.K. fashion industry is not down at heel. Its high-profile designers have attracted a global following — names like Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith.

The whole business is doing well, says Harold Tillman head of the British Fashion Council. And that’s in spite of the economic downturn.

HAROLD TILLMAN: Clothes wear out. People get bored. They want new things. You’ve got spring, summer, autumn and winter. It’s not like something that’s being produced that’s the same as it was last year. So we have more of an opportunity of creating consumer interest.

The council has commissioned a report on the British fashion industry which is published today. It concluded that it’s the U.K.’s 15th largest — worth more than $30 billion a year. But that figure involves a certain amount of window dressing. It includes the sale of all clothing — even imports designed and made abroad.

In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.