London – UK fashion
trade show Pure London had a bumpy start on Sunday, with Storm Ciara
battering the UK and resulting in much of the country’s transport services
being temporarily closed. But despite the setback and a quiet
first day, the fair, which took place between 9 – 11 February at Olympia
London, celebrated a generally upbeat AW20 edition.
Womenswear remains centre stage
Though the organisers of Pure don’t publish visitor numbers, they did confirm
that footfall was up year-on-year, with the main hall, dedicated to
womenswear and the Pure catwalk, experiencing a consistent flow of
visitors and brands reporting a steady amount of orders.
“It’s been great – today we’ve been really busy,” said a spokesperson
from Shoreditch-based womenswear brand Religion. “We’ve consistently had
two or three customers at the same time here – a mix of new and returning
ones.” The brand was showcasing its AW20 ‘Come As You Are’ collection which
focused on layering with rich textures and oversized prints in a palette of
nature-inspired neutrals such as caramel, cathay spice and taupe run
throughout. “Pure London really works for us – it’s a show where people
write orders. We’ve noticed at shows in Berlin people might come and look
around but don’t necessarily make orders.” The label said it saw a lot of
buyers from England, Scotland and Ireland and a few from Israel, Turkey and
Greece.
French brand Lacoste was attending Pure for the first time.
Traditionally known as a menswear label, the goal of its visit to Pure was
to showcase its womenswear offering which has been a key focus since Louise
Trotter joined as creative director in October 2018. In its retail
boutiques, womenswear currently accounts for about three percent of its
overall trade. “There has been a lot of people here who are quite surprised
that we do a womenswear collection and the main feedback has been really
positive so it’s definitely been worth doing,” said the brand’s UK accounts
manager Emily Voss. “We’ve chosen to style the stand differently from the
corporate Lacoste vision – we’ve tried to make it a bit more approachable
and ready for a multi-brand environment which is what we’re trying to
unlock.” Moving forward the brand said it might also consider showing at
premium womenswear trade show Scoop in future seasons.
FashionUnited
British fashion designer Matthew O’Brien was showing his eponymous label
for the first time at Pure, an event which also marked the brand’s first
foray into wholesale. “It’s been great for us – we’ve seen a real buzz and
interest in our collections from buyers across the three days,” O’Brien
said. Asked about the decision to launch wholesale, he commented: “We are
really excited about expanding the brand and getting as many people wearing
it as possible. I think the way to do that is through wholesale collections
– it’s about being freely available at different price points through other
retailers.” Looking forward, the brand said it is aiming to open three
physical stores in Liverpool, Manchester, and London in as many years.
Hyve Group
London-based womenswear brand Milingona was showcasing for the first
time at Pure. The businesswear-focused brand offers a range of wrinkle-free
clothing “ideal for entrepreneurs or public speakers,” at a price range of
between 80 – 140 pounds, with the exception of two handmade coats priced at
600 pounds each. “We’re really proud and excited to be showcasing the brand
for the first time at a tradeshow,” said managing director Anduela Ismaili.
“People have been particularly excited about our two handmade coats and
they’ve loved trying them on which is great to see.” The brand’s Blue Sky
coat was the “masterpiece of Milingona Fashion AW20/21” – the coat can be
reversed and taken apart to reveal four different looks suitable for
different occasions. Though Ismaili said it was a great opportunity to
showcase the brand to international visitors, she said she was a bit
disappointed by the footfall and would perhaps consider showing the brand
at a more premium trade show in the future, such as Scoop.
FashionUnited
Things were quieter in the second hall at Pure, which houses sections
Pure Men for menswear, Bubble for childrenswear, Conscious for sustainable
brands, Body for athleisure and swimwear, and Origin for garment, fabric
and supply chain sourcing.
Showing at a trade fair for the first time since launching last year was
luxury menswear brand Aristocracy London. The label creates limited edition
3 piece suits for the modern gentleman, who likes to look “sharp, unique
and suitably attired at all times.” Founder Laz Tyrekidis said: “We think
it’s really important to have that physical presence whether through
showrooms or trade fairs because when it comes to luxury fashion and
tailoring it’s important to be able to try things on – to be able to really
feel the quality of the garments and see the bespoke details.” The brand is
planning on opening a showroom in Knightsbridge, London, next month. “It
has not been quite as busy as we were hoping for,” Tyrekidis said. “I’ve
been here many years as a visitor and just felt that there wasn’t as much
footfall in the menswear section as I’d hoped for. I think considering the
speed at which the menswear industry is growing, it would be great to see
that reflected at trade shows.”
FashionUnited
Sustainability picking up, but brands want more focus
In Pure Conscious, brands generally agreed footfall was up on last year
since the section was brought from the second floor down to the first
floor, but they thought more could still be done. Brands agreed that they
would like to see more visible differentiation between sections, either
through clear colour coding or signage, so people knew exactly how to find
them.
Mark Bloom from sustainable fashion brand Komodo, a stalwart of Pure,
said: “The sustainability movement has been an awfully slow-burning thing
but it is starting to grow. I’ve been doing it since 1988 and in those days
people just laughed and wondered what we were talking about in the fashion
world. Now people are realising the future needs to be more sustainable
which is great.” He continued: “We’re really glad to see England starting to catch up with
some of the European countries that have been pioneering the movement such
as Scandinavia, Germany, Holland, Switzerland – but more still needs to be
done to put a focus on sustainability, we feel a bit hidden away in the
corner.
Ben Wildner, from sustainable German streetwear brand Wat Apparel was
happy with the first of his brand’s appearances at Pure after showing at
larger, sustainable focused fairs Neonyt and Premium in Berlin. “It’s been
exciting, we’ve spoken to a lot of people and we’ve already signed up to
come next year,” he said. “If I’m honest, the footfall wasn’t as high as I
was hoping, but the people who have visited showed real interest in our
brand.”
Organisers of Pure announced during the event that they will be making
changes in the show’s layout in the upcoming July edition to accommodate
exhibitors’ and visitors’ demands. In the summer, the Pure Conscious, Pure
Men, Pure Body and Gen-Z sections will be brought into the main hall, while
Pure Origin will have more space in the second hall. Pure Conscious will be
positioned at the front of the first hall, so visitors will immediately see
it when walking into the fair. “Sustainability is really at the forefront
of the fashion industry and we want to reflect that at Pure,” said Martin
Arnold, fashion portfolio director of Hyve Group. “We are putting actions
behind our words and repositioning sustainable brands in a really prominent
area because we want sustainability to be at the heart of everything we’re
doing.”
Brexit woes continue but buyers remain resilient
Brexit, a word that has plagued conversation about British business both
inside and outside of the fashion industry since the referendum result was
announced back in 2016, was again a talking point at Pure London. On
Monday, Michael Gove warned businesses that trade with Europe to prepare
for “inevitable” border checks after the transition period ends on 31
december 2020. But despite that, and while many buyers at Pure admitted
they were remaining careful with spending, there was an overall feeling of
optimism and lift in confidence compared to previous seasons which many
buyers said was partly due to the December general election result.
“Since the general election we have genuinely seen a positive bounce in
confidence. No one knows for sure what will happen with Brexit but people
now know it’s happening and they just need to get on with it – it’s a great example of the resilience of British retail,” Arnold said.
“Whatever happens the UK will still be a really important fashion and
retail hotspot – London is a fashion capital, without question.”
Main article image courtesy of FashionUnited
