Pure London: 'The Department Store for the Trade'

Road closures spread across West London failed to leave any lingering marks on fashion trade fair Pure London, which hosted its 38th edition earlier this week at Olympia London. Bringing together over 800 women's wear, footwear and accessories brands for its Spring/Summer 2016 event, the bi-annual fashion trade fair implemented a series of changes ahead of its larger overhaul planned for February 2016.

"We've had quite a few changes this season - we've got DJs and music at the show which have been very positively received and helped changed the vibe of the show," explains Julie Driscoll, portfolio director for Pure London, part of i2i Events Group. "We've had great feedback from both exhibitors and buyers about that, as well as the theme for this year, which was Electric Beach, based on WGSN trends for Spring/Summer 2016. The catwalk looked like a beach and we had deck chairs." Fiona Hamilton, owner of All the Rage, a women's casual and occasion wear boutique in Bothwell, South Lanarkshire, was quick to pick up on the new vibe. "I hadn't been to the show for a few seasons but I'm so glad I did. I've found two new labels and it feels like there's a very different, fresh vibe this season."

Another new addition to the trade fair circuit this season was the presence of contemporary women's wear trade show Scoop International. The smaller trade fair hosted one of its events simultaneously to Pure at the Saatchi Gallery in London - competition which may cause some to worry. But Driscoll did not show any concern of the trade event's presence affecting Pure in any way. "Honestly Pure London has been going on for over twenty years - we have a show that is a destination and we have a really strong brand mix, an amazing customer experience and the insight that we offer brands and buyers is unique, so we are not concerned with what is going on the outside. I think that if you get obsessed with what other people are doing then you lose focus. We are in a leadership position and we need to behave and act as the premier trade event and that is what we will continue to do."

Rosie Batt, wholesale managar at People Tree and first time attendee at Pure, did worry that Scoop may have lured away potential buyers from Pure. "Buyers did seem to be slightly more time poor than usual as they were splitting their time between the two shows," she said to FashionUnited. "I don’t think that Scoop being on at the same time would have affected our meetings with existing customers, but we may have missed out on new as buyers didn’t have as much time to browse."

'Best Ever' edition of Pure London

With newness long being one of the main pillars for Pure Driscoll notes that the brand blend this season led to numerous retailers and brands alike declaring the event the 'best ever' Pure. "We have over 200 exclusive brands for Pure London this season and 300 new brands which is absolutely fantastic. So I am really, really pleased with the results. It's really pleasing when our PR company has almost 100 happy testimonials and were almost tripping over people who wanted to give positive feedback. It just makes all that hard work and planning so satisfying and fulfilling. We've had retailers come to us saying that 3 days isn't enough, there is so much to see, so much choice. So I feel like it is our job to constantly innovate and bring new brands to the event to excite the buyers as well as bringing in new buyers each and every season for the new brands."

Sue Whitcombe, senior women's wear buyer at department store chain Bentalls believes this is exactly what Pure needed. "The show needed newness and that's exactly what it has this season." Frankie Maloney, assistant buyer at House of Fraser added: "There's a lot of variety at the show and we've found some great new brands." Curating the right selection of brands to exhibit at Pure to satisfy all parties involved is no easy task, but Driscoll is always on the look out labels which have that individual appeal, as well as the brand value, experience, quality and retail lure. "A lot of independent buyers want something that will stand out on the high street, something that the larger stores do not have," points out Driscoll.

"But in terms of the department stores and pure players online, such as Asos, they are particularly drawn to sections like Occasion and Spirit which are happy hunting grounds for more commercial brands. Our Premium footwear and Premium women's wear has also been a huge hit and helped these department stores seek out individuality as well." Pure's offering of South African brands and designer is an area Driscoll is particularly inspired by and proud of this season. "I have been absolutely inspired by the South Africans brands we had at Pure this season. South Africa is a real melting pot of nationalities from all over the globe. Therefore the designers are different and have a different energy from any other country and bring something unique to the global fashion picture. And I feel very privileged to be able to bring them to London for Pure and show them to UK retailers as well as the international buyers."

Speaking of International buyers, figures are said to be up significantly season on season for Pure, with buyers coming from Japan, Korea and Dubai. "I think this increase is a result of us working harder to get that brand mix really right, and make retailers who attend Pure stop and think 'Yes, that is something pretty special.'" In order to ensure Pure continues to attract the right buyers from all over the world the team has made a number of changes within marketing. "We segmented our buyers into databases to better identify premium buyers and made it very easy for them to visit the show and treated them as VIPs which has made a significant difference. We have also marketed the brands that we feel are appropriate for them to them, using behavioural marketing through social media and online so we are constantly promoting the message of Pure London. We also a have a new app that makes it easier for buyers to understand which brands are appropriate for them so they can think about their edit. We have done a lot to make sure the right messages are getting to the right buyers in the right way."

Pure London - constantly innovating and moving forward

In order to ensure that both Pure's exhibitors and buyers continue to get the right message, the trade fair has planned to launch a complete new re-edit of the event next February, which will include the addition of men's wear as well as an increased focus on premium brands across all categories. "We are giving it all some very deep thought so that when buyers walk in next season they will be positively disrupted and fall in love with us all over again," says Driscoll. "Initially we were planning on launching men's wear this season and putting it upstairs towards the back of the show, but the feedback we received from the brand's indicated that they wanted to be at the front of the show. So I am being brave and bold and putting it right at the front of the show next season. I can see that men's wear will open up possibilities for our existing agencies to bring our brands, our current brands to bring their men's wear collections and have their lifestyle collections there. Olympia has many hidden areas people don't know about so we have space to expand and space to do what we want to do."