Creativity and the feel-good factor reigned at Pure London with a celebration of global fashion while the key takeaways included sustainability, experimentation, personalisation, collaboration and newness. During the three day event at London Olympia, the UK’s leading fashion trade show and most unmissable event for buying and inspiration, visitors shared their excitement at the refreshing mix of big brand names alongside emerging and exclusive designers echoing the comments from industry leaders throughout the seminar programme.
During her keynote address on Sunday, Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Farrah Storr commented that “during tough times we have to dig deep, lean into the discomfort, and that drives creativity.”
Leona Fallen from McElhinneys in Ireland said: “We come to Pure London every season to find new brands that will excite our customers.” Amy Cook from Eighty-Seven in Melbourne Derbyshire added: “I’ve been coming to Pure for 5 years and we’re after newness, emerging brands and exciting product that sets our boutique apart from others. Pure is essential for our buying calendar.”
Buyers from stores and e-tailers including M&S, ASOS, Topshop, Choice, Fred Funk, Net-a-porter, Fenwick, H&M, Next, Maureen Cookson, Pamela Shiffer, and The Dressing Room were treated to inspirational stand designs, with many brands re-creating a store environment to capture the imagination of visitors. During the Pure London Display Awards held on Sunday, evening brands were awarded for their visual merchandising and stand design. Julie Driscoll, Managing Director of Pure London said during the ceremony: “Brands make a huge effort to wow their buyers and their efforts have a massive impact on how the show looks and feels. We want take this opportunity to applaud your creativity and celebrate your amazing efforts.”
Judge and Visual Merchandiser David Anthony said of the overall Best in Show stand winner Rakish Heels: “The indulgent, colourful and eccentric vintage concept transformed this blank space into a well thought out and overall best fit out for the brand. A lesson in how to make your product stand out from the crowd. It popped!”
Pure London also provides an arena for networking which leads to creative and exciting collaborations. Mashizan Masjum, Creative Director of luxury footwear brand MASHIZAN met Ann Edwards from ethical handbag brand Mame Haku last season and they are now collaborating on an exclusive collection due to launch for AW18.
General feedback from exhibitors regarding business taken was positive with plenty of orders placed from stores across the UK and from countries including UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Turkey, USA, and Ireland. Rishi Som from trend led fashion brand Urban Bliss said: “Pure London is a great order writing the show for us. We’ve seen a good mix of UK and international buyers and the energy in the Spirit section is high.”
Daniel Morris from The Morris Fyfe Agency with Valentino Handbags and Replay Accessories said: “We’ve had a successful show, we had a target of new accounts to open and we’ve reached that target.” Jennie Sutherland, owner of start-up eco and reforestation business Two Crows Clothing was overwhelmed by the reaction: “This show has genuinely changed my life, I am now global.”
Newly launched sourcing and manufacturing sector Origin had a high turn out from buyers from Burberry, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Harvey Nichols and visitors raved about the educational content programme delivering key insights and driving the future agenda for fashion.
During Monday’s Main Stage panel discussion on Sustainability: 2018’s Biggest Trend, Tamsin Lejeune from the Ethical Fashion Forum, Diana Verde Nieto from Positive Luxury and Dio Kurazawa from The Bear Scouts discussed the increased consumer engagement in product provenance and ethics, stating that reverse mentoring will see Millennials changing the boardroom agenda around fashion with sustainability no longer being ‘an option’ but critical for the fashion industry. While Jonathan Ivelaw-Chapman from Sedex, inspired by the film Lion starring Dev Patel, urged brands during his talk on Achieving Transparency on a Global Scale to take to Google Earth to trace the origin of their products.
The next edition of Pure London and Pure Origin takes place at London Olympia from 22nd – 24th July 2018. For more information visit www.purelondon.com.