London Fashion Week: Cultural Contribution
Samantha Niblett Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to speak under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I applaud my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Rosie Wrighting) for securing the debate. This is the first time that this subject has been discussed in this place, and I cannot think of anyone better to introduce it.
I am thrilled to take part in this debate on London Fashion Week, which has been one of the highlights of British fashion and creativity since it began in February 1984. London’s is the youngest of the big four fashion weeks; the others are in New York, Milan and Paris. Full disclosure: my partner is one of the global editors at Condé Nast, which owns publications that are iconic brands from GQ, which I was delighted to see championing and celebrating all things British in its latest edition, to Tatler, Traveller, Wired, Glamour, The New Yorker and very possibly the most famous of all, Vogue.
In 2019, Vogue characterised London’s essence as “fearless imagination” and explained how fashion has long allowed designers to explore “tongue-in-cheek rebellion”. Perhaps the most famous is Vivienne Westwood, who was born in Hollingworth village just north-west of Derbyshire. London Fashion Week provides us all with a brilliant opportunity to champion designers and creatives from right across our country. I remember poring over borrowed and old copies of Vogue as a teenager living in a council house in Nottingham and aspiring to feel as classy and fancy-pants as some of the women I saw and read about.
Through an introduction from Chris Warren at Condé Nast, I had the great pleasure of meeting Claire Singer and Ottilie Chichester at Vogue, who told me how they have recently launched the initiative “Vogue Values”, under the banner “Fashion is for everyone”. It is an attempt to recognise that fashion can be a driver of positive change, not just in terms of creativity and culture, but in addressing overproduction, waste and exclusion. When publications as influential as Vogue begin to put sustainability and inclusivity at the centre of their agenda, that suggests that London Fashion Week and the UK fashion industry are entering a new era in which creativity, commerce and responsibility are at the centre. It is so exciting to see British platforms helping to lead that change.
It filters down to our high streets and shopping habits, too. In Melbourne, in my constituency of South Derbyshire, Best Kept Secret is a dress agency selling pristine-quality, previously loved designer clothing. It offers high-end brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Louis Vuitton. We also have some brilliant charity shops giving clothes a second lease of life. In Swadlincote, our Sue Ryder charity shop is a bargain hunter’s paradise, as well as raising money for those experiencing grief, and the Salvation Army offers affordable vintage clothing and raises money for homeless shelters in the UK and disaster relief overseas.
It is great to see young people focusing on sustainability. Students at Burton and South Derbyshire college have worked with Loved Once Again to bring sustainability to life through a series of innovative projects. And there are a great many MPs—women and men—who buy their clothes on sites such as eBay and Vinted. Our very own hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) is inspiring people, including my office manager, with her #NoBuyingNew campaign. Each day, she says where her outfits were from. They are always vintage, which helps to reduce waste to landfill one outfit at a time. Her socials are most certainly worth a follow. I wonder whether at London Fashion Week 2026 there might be room for an MPs’ runway.
Victory in Europe and Victory over Japan: 80th Anniversary
Samantha Niblett Excerpts(5 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)
As we mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and later this summer celebrate the anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, I am reminded of the extraordinary bravery shown by so many, including our very own Ray Statham, from Newhall, in my constituency. Eighty years ago, Ray was in the English channel supporting the D-day landings; now, as he approaches his 103rd birthday, we celebrate not only his longevity but the legacy of service he represents. Ray served aboard HMS Indefatigable with the Royal Navy, and I know the whole House will want to join me in wishing him a very happy birthday and offering him our deepest thanks for his service to our country. I would also like to recognise Ken Ash from Repton, who served with the Royal Signals, and my own grandad, Frederick, or Fred, Palmer, who served in the Royal Logistics Corps in the Army.
Winston Churchill said that the surrender of Nazi Germany was
“the signal for the greatest outburst of joy in the history of mankind”,
and while for many that was true, for countless others, the end of the war was marked by quiet sorrow for those who never came home. Across the UK and overseas, the graves of those who made the ultimate sacrifice are lovingly maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. We have one such war grave in Swadlincote, in Church Gresley cemetery. Thanks to Glyn Jackson and Joanne Abbassi, we have a folder of the names of those who rest in peace there. I am so grateful to Shelly Lynn, who leads tours of the cemetery, for sharing those names with me. I have written to the Secretary of State for Defence and to the Minister for Veterans and People with their names in a roll call, asking them to join me in sharing our gratitude for their service. Each of their names is a reminder of a family left behind, a future never fulfilled. What strikes me most is their youth. So many were in their early 20s, some just teenagers. They had dreams, careers and families ahead of them, and they gave all of that up for us. For me, this roll call carries an even more personal note. Many brave men and women served in the Royal Air Force as volunteer reserves. I have the privilege of taking part in the armed forces parliamentary scheme with the RAF this year, allowing me a small glimpse of the professionalism and sacrifice that defines our Royal Air Force personnel to this day.
As we commemorate VE Day and VJ Day, let us remember those who fought and fell not only in victory, but in hope, and let us resolve always to be worthy of the freedom that they gave us.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
Oral Answers to Questions
Samantha Niblett Excerpts(10 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)
Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
This Government are prioritising the growth of our creative industries, which are vital to our economy and showcase the best of creativity and culture. In the last few days alone, I have been pleased to announce £13.5 million of funding for two new clusters in Liverpool and the west midlands.
Samantha Niblett
I thank the Secretary of State for her answer, and I just want to expand on it. In South Derbyshire, we have the Melbourne festival of art and architecture, which turns 20 next September, and the brilliant CircularityHUB, where people of all abilities can go to use the media studio. However, when it comes to young people wanting careers in the creative industries, what more can this Government do so that we can thrive in these industries at home, not have to get out to get on.
Lisa Nandy
I am aware of the huge ambition that my hon. Friend has for South Derbyshire, and the contribution that its people can make to our arts and culture and creative industries. This Government are supporting those aspirations with a £3 million expansion of the creative careers programme, so that young people can find those jobs and get access to those opportunities. With the Education Secretary, we are reviewing the curriculum to put arts and music back at the heart of the national curriculum, where it belongs.