Victoria Beckham launches Great campaign
Thursday, 16 February 2012
British fashion designer Victoria Beckham was joined by Vogue’s Anna Wintour in New York yesterday to launch the UK’s Great campaign, a Government initiative to highlight the best of Britain ahead of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012
Olympic and Paralympic Games.At
the event at Grand Central Station’s 42nd Street subway shuttle platform, Beckham was unveiled as an international ambassador for the Great campaign, where she will help promote the best of Britain around the world. Playing a leading role in the Fashion is Great element of the campaign, Beckham will be shooting a short film to support the project, which will feature one of her designs, as well as highlighting the UK as the preeminent place in which to visit, study, and invest.Coordinated by British Consulate-General, New York and VisitBritain the event also featured the inaugural run of the Great-branded subway train, and attracted a number of British fashion industry insiders including Hamish Bowles, international editor-at-large of Vogue; Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig of Marchesa; Tamara Mellon; and models Jourdan Dunn and Karen Elson.
The other key themes for the Great campaign are: heritage, sport, shopping, music, entrepreneurship, innovation and countryside, which are reflected in posters produced to publicise the project.
“As the UK gears up for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, there’s no better time to celebrate the best that Britain has to offer,” said Ambassador Westmacott. “As one of Britain’s major fashion icons, Victoria Beckham’s involvement with the Great Campaign will bring even more attention to Britain’s world-renowned fashion designers, the magnificent range of shopping on offer and our distinctive British style.”
On the eve of London Fashion Week the initiative highlighted that British fashion is a large contributor to the UK’s international tourism industry, which is the country’s third-largest earner of foreign exchange, and that fashion directly contributes nearly £21 billion to the UK economy annually and supports some 1.31 million jobs.
Image: British Consulate-General, New York Twitter
