Caroline Rush

Caroline Rush CBE is the Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council. She has 20 years of experience in marketing and PR across both consumer and corporate communications in fashion, music and lifestyle sectors and has managed her own business for five years, during which time she delivered strategic communications and full press office function for the British Fashion Council.

Since her appointment as Chief Executive in April 2009, Burberry, Matthew Williamson, Mulberry, Pringle of Scotland and Preen have returned to show their collections at London Fashion Week. Caroline has expanded the LONDON show ROOMS and Style Suites taking British designers to new markets including Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Sao Paolo. She was charged with curating the 2009 25th anniversary legacy project for the British Fashion Council which included launching the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund and the BFC Fashion Arts Foundation. The same year, Caroline oversaw the move of London Fashion Week and the British Fashion Council’s headquarters to its current home at Somerset House.

In 2012 she worked with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to launch Britain Creates, an artistic project which formed part of the Fashion 2012 platform to celebrate the Games and the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Under her tenure the first ever in-depth statistic-based reports on the fashion industry have been published, most notably, The Value of Fashion (2010) and The Future of Fashion (2012). In June 2012 the UK’s menswear industry was given its own platform when she created London Collections: Men, Britain’s only biannual menswear trade showcase for over 130 designers including Alexander McQueen, Burberry and Tom Ford who now choose to show at the event. Caroline has also presided over the launch of BFC/GQ Menswear Designer Fund; Contemporary, a designer support initiative; Fashion Film, a talent initiative that encourages and supports designers to use film; Headonism, a millinery initiative, and Rock Vault, a fine jewellery initiative. Through her relationships with the government, Mayor of London, patrons, sponsors, designers, media and international retailers there has been exponential growth in the value, reach and profile of British fashion seeing it become a serious player in the global fashion economy. Caroline Rush is listed in the Evening Standard Power 1000 List 2012 and 2013 as well as the 2013 Business of Fashion’s 500. In 2014 she was made an Honorary Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University and awarded a CBE for her services to the British fashion industry.