In 1979, Franks's PR agency was commissioned by the Murjani Corporation to launch Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, one of the first designer jeans to be launched in the UK. Franks used this relationship in 1984 to help persuade Murjani to sponsor a large fashion tent outside the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington, as a venue for British fashion designers to display their talents. This helped to turn the then fledgling London Fashion Week into the centralised and prestigious event it remains to this day.