London’s role as a talent hub for the global fashion industry will take a substantial hit as a result of new immigration rules being imposed after the Brexit transition period, according to several leading modelling agencies.

New visa requirements to enable British and EU models to work in each other’s countries after the ending of EU free movement on January 1 will reduce the attractiveness of London for models, stylists and photographers working in the industry, they warned. 

John Horner, managing director of Models 1 and chairman of the British Fashion Model Agents Association (BFMA), said the new layer of bureaucracy would reduce the ability of agencies to get models quickly into different markets. “UK PLC is going to lose out very dramatically,” he added.