Pure London, the largest festival of fashion in London and leading destination for fashion inspiration and buying opened it’s doors yesterday and today to a surge of visitors including John Lewis, Selfridges, Victoria Beckham, and Asos keen to discover new collections from the most exciting brands and the hottest emerging designers, global manufacturers, and witness a thought-provoking content programme driving change in the industry to redesign fashion’s future.
Julie Driscoll, Managing Director of Pure London also announced the re-launch of the Spirit fast fashion section as Gen Z to reflect this growing demographic du jour that is shaping our current culture and the future. Encapsulating the energy and mood of young fashion, Gen Z which launches at the February 19 show, is set to burst with of-the-minute, trend-led, street style and unisex collections. Julie says: “Spirit encompasses youth fashion and what the market wants now, so it’s about continuous change and market demand. Re-branding it as Gen Z reflects this transformative and woke generation, showcasing brands with a ‘higher purpose’, those who tell stories the youth market can relate to and meet the desire for instant gratification.”
During her Main Stage talk on Sunday, Radio 1 presenter and fashion designer Maya Jama spoke about the current culture for inclusivity and diversity, commenting on the changes taking place in the industry, the desire for authenticity and calling out inappropriate behaviour.
Today, the conversation continued with Professor Caryn Franklin MBE during her panel discussion and keynote address. She said: “The global marketplace is changing, culturally, geographically and politically. Change can take time, it requires tenacity, consistency and requires us to be fixed on the vision, to become a stakeholder in the things that matter to you…whatever that is and no matter how small. All it takes is the power of one to drive change.”
During their panel conversation on the Origin Stage, Orsola de Castro from the Fashion Revolution called for everyone to look at the problem as if we are all the solution. “Think of the supply chain whenever you get dressed in the morning. Every day there is something you can do. As a mother, it’s my children’s future that I’m working for; aiming for a fashion industry that pushes for diversity, to support sustainable small brands to change the high street, to see mending shops on every street corner.”
Visitors were also immersed into the future during the SS19 Catwalks, showcasing the inspirational and creative talents of this year’s Graduate Fashion Week winners and graduates and key looks from the Common Ground, Creative Manifesto and In Touch trends. Monday morning saw WGSN deliver their Future Consumer 2020 Buyer Briefing and a SS19 Trend Presentation spotlighting the new consumer voices including Gen Z bringing ‘Responsible Tech’, ‘Watch Now Buy Now’ and the new ‘Ethnic Majorities’ to the fore.
Laura Balmond from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation kicked off the Pure Origin stage on Sunday outlining their vision for a circular economy and setting out how manufacturers, brands and the consumer can get on board and join forces to redesign fashion’s future. She said: “We want fashion to be fun and to have the same choices but to do it in a different way. There should be no bad choices for the consumer when shopping. Everything should be a good choice, from repairing products to lengthen their lifecycle, sharing, leasing and re-selling clothes, to remanufacturing and refurbishing materials and designing clothes that can de disassembled and made into something else.”