Pure London reveals architectural theme

Pure London, the UK’s leading trade fashion event, is to celebrate the synergies between fashion design and architecture for its August show. The move marks the first time that Pure London has incorporated a theme and is part of the many changes that the tradeshow is implementing as part

of the show’s “new vision” following major investment from parent company i2i Events.

Commenting on the theme, Julie Driscoll, portfolio director for Pure London at i2i Events said: “Both fashion and architecture express ideas of personal, social and cultural identity through design meaning that the inspiration for both are very closely linked.

“Additionally fashion brands and retailers work increasingly closely with architects, asking them to translate and interpret their brand values and inspirations through store design. We wanted to celebrate this close creative relationship to bring the two together at the show.”

Architecture was selected as the first theme because of its close design relationship with fashion and organisers are hoping that it is a success and that every show will be assigned a different theme.

To celebrate the architecture theme, Pure London has teamed-up with leading architecture and design college Ravensbourne to launch an exclusive competition for its architecture and interior design students to come up with a concept for a sculpture to be displayed at the show.

The brief is for students to design a sculpture from mirrored acrylic to fit inside a 2 metre cubed space. The design must capture light and be influenced by architectural inspirations but, all the while capturing the dreams and aspirations of fashion design. The entrant should show how it can be constructed and it must be designed based on a budget of 1,000 pounds.

Driscoll added: “We have taken the decision to theme Pure London in order to create excitement and enhance the customer experience at the show.

“By choosing creative themes such as architecture, we are giving our customers something different and visual to enjoy each season, in the same way retailers will theme their shop windows in order to delight their customers.”

Pure London unveils further changes for August show

In addition to the theme, other changes are being implemented to the tradeshow following research conducted by the organisers with more than 700 buyers and brands, which revealed that the three most important elements for buyers were unique mix of brands, authoritative insight into trends and an inspirational environment.

The February show unveiled changes to the ready-to-wear sections and building on that, the forthcoming August edition will showcase a redefine footwear and accessories proposition, which aims to enhance the identities of both areas. These changes have already attracted a number of brands that have been absent from Pure London in recent seasons including Jeffrey Campbell, Peter Kaiser, Pretty Ballerina, J Shoes and Lodi/Gadea.

Pure London will take place from August 3-5, 2014 at London Olympia.

Image: Pure London