PURE LONDON - newness and innovation at Spring-Summer 2024 edition

Pure London, the UK's largest Festival of Fashion, ended this afternoon following three exciting days of innovative and trend-led fashion and inspiring and educational content. Retailers including John Lewis, ASOS, Galeries Lafayette, Anthropologie, McElhinneys, Monsoon, Jules B, Cavells, Pamela Schiffer, Morley Stores, Maison et Vie, Jessimara, Bob and Ted, Gerrards Fashion and Sister attended Olympia London across the event taking advantage of everything the show has to offer and buoyed by the edit of new brands, new layout, and the dynamic trends and Nature-Verse show theme.

Cecile Massabie and Catherine Gomez from Galeries Lafayette said, "We have found some great brands at Pure London - We loved Babachic Bags from India, they were very cool. Sorbet swimwear was great. We found some lovely and great quality dresses in Chico Soleil."

Bimbola Akinloye from ASOS said, "I really enjoyed the trend update, I found it insightful and relevant for true Gen Z or even the broader customer who wants to dip in and out of the trend. The styling and direction of the catwalk were great. It was fun, bright, and young and showcased brands relevant to ASOS. Navigating Pure London has been easy, with the separate destinations, it's been easy to find exciting brands and things I need."

Wendy Farlow from Appleby & Shaw in Shropshire said, "I picked up some good tips from the presentation this morning on strategies for thriving in a changing landscape. The catwalk was also great. It's nice to get some reassurance that we are doing the right thing in our store. Brilliant to see Onjenu and Elisa Cavaletti at the show, every brand is looking great."

Maeve Flouch and Gwen Culligan from The County Boutique in Ennis said, "The fashion show was lovely, and it was especially interesting to see sustainability so prevalent throughout the show, especially repurposing and secondhand use. It inspires us to think about how we can bring sustainability to our store."

Event Director at Pure London, Gloria Sandrucci placed the focus this season on newness. This thread ran through the show which presented a new look and edited layout, welcomed a host of exciting new international brands, celebrated the return of UK retail stalwarts, showcased the new POP destination which proved popular with buyers and, as part of the new collaboration with Graduate Fashion Week, placed graduate designs on the Pure London catwalk. Pure London's SS24 overarching theme Nature-verse carried across the show's content, brands, and styling and gave the show a fresh and vibrant personality.

Sandrucci said, "I have been blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response from buyers this season, commenting on the amazing new brands and the added extras you get when visiting Pure London – the catwalk, the information on trends and the line-up of speakers.  We have created something truly fresh and I, and the whole team at Pure London, look forward to continuing the journey next season."

This positivity was echoed across the show floor.  Sarah Jemirifo Founder of Hydration London said, "This is our first trade show, we only launched three months ago. We've got an established customer base in Dubai and London already but to come here and tell our brand's story is amazing, the opportunities have been endless, from magazine placements to networking and getting our name out there. Our traffic has been amazing, our designs stand out so people double-take as they walk past, and we've been approached by quite big brands like ASOS. The response has been overwhelming, and our expectations have been exceeded."

Ines Martinez from Vilagallo said, "It has been a really good and very busy show for us, Monday particularly was amazing!  We love our location right at the front of the show attracting a lot of attention and we have found great new customers."  Palladio, fashion agents for Vilagallo among other brands showing at Pure London shared this enthusiasm and Millie Vickers commented, "Pure London is good for us because it really suits the collections that we bring. We have seen a lot of Irish customers here and we know there are buyers who do all their buying here at Pure London."

Paola Noguera from Casa de Coco said, "This is my first trade show ever and it's been really interesting. My goal was to get 10 to 20 strong leads and we've hit our target, so I'm happy. The organisers have been very helpful and accommodating, they've checked on me several times a day, with it being my first time doing a show which was amazing. I will attend again, you can see the fruits of it, those connections are the only way you're going to branch out."

Melissa Oosterwolde CEO of Melissa Oosterwolde said, "This is my first time exhibiting in the UK! I did my research and discovered Pure London is really the place to be to break into the UK market! The show has exceeded our expectations as we've been approached by retailers from Ireland, Scotland and America, and made orders! I would say that the Netherlands trade shows have more European retailers, whereas here it is far more international."

Paul Darling Woods, Director of Pink Lemons said, "This is the first trade show since the pandemic and being back has been great!  We are right at the entrance which has been fantastic as people come straight to us. This is our most successful show ever, we've made a lot of orders, spoke with a lot of old clients and new, big retailers."

Shelly Herring from Another Sunday said, "We launched nine months ago, so Pure London was our first trade show in February, and we have returned this season. We've received orders from current customers and brought new customers on board which is amazing. We have also been approached by other brands for collaborations which is exciting."

On the Pure London catwalk, Trend Forecaster, Malaika Ewande Founder of Vesuvius introduced four key SS24 trends to buyers, Tech Artistry, Romantic Wanderer, Soothing Luxury and Freaks & Geeks. Powered by the birth of a new digital landscape, Tech Artistry brings together neo-machina and nature-verse. Colours here combine neon pops of yellow and pink, with vibrant metallics in gold and lilac with green tones rooted in nature.

Romantic Wanderer, the ultimate antithesis to Tech Artistry, brings a dreamy romantic character in her feminine era. Built from culture and embedded in empathy and respect, Romantic Wanderer is very compassionate, and calm; a new form of luxury that's welcoming, looking for taste in tenderness. Colours here eschew traditional pinks and opt for bright coral, moss greens, rich burgundies, tonal greys and pops of blue hues that can be styled together for an elegant luxury.

Soothing Luxury is a celebration of muted taste; smooth and geometric this trend is about quality. Taking inspiration from brutalists and architecture, colours combine copper and gold textures with elemental shades of stone grey, green and browns. Quiet Luxury translates into codes of essential minimalism.

The final trend, Freaks & Geeks is one of the most important trends in the industry right now, that isn't going anywhere fast. A social trend, Freaks & Geeks is a celebration of identity and individuality, not just visual but cultural. Cemented in the joyful, the colour range is primaries of Red, Cobalt, and Yellow are contrasted with Pinks and Mint Green. There are no rules in this trend, it's creative but care-free.

This season, Pure London has continued to draw attention to one of the biggest challenges facing the industry, sustainability.  Entirely unique to Pure London, the Sustainable destination showcases a carefully curated selection of environmentally conscious exhibitors leading the way in addressing their environmental and social impact and for the first time this season supported by #TOGETHERBAND by BOTTLETOP, the Sustainability Hub offered retailers advice and access to the Independent Retailers Sustainability toolkit and the content programme delivered educational seminars and panel discussions.

Sustainability consultant and RETHINK Retail Top Influencer 2023, Steve Lister delivered his insightful session 'Sustainable Success: Empowering Small Independent Businesses with Strategic Sustainability'.  Having worked with brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Levi's, Nike, Calvin Klein and Adidas, Lister emphasised the importance of acting now, 'Sustainability is now a global focus. We're entering a new era of Conscious Capitalism where sustainability strategies and metrics add value to businesses of any size. The UN's SDG's are more important than ever and can be used to create a framework strategy for any retailer of any size. There are 6 key pillars to consider when strategizing these; Store Design, Sustainable Materials, Supply Chain Partners, Product Manufacturing, Packaging and Logistics and End of Use Recycling. It's worth noting that 80% of the environmental impact of a product is determined at the early design stage so understanding the full circularity of your business is imperative to implementing a strategy for change."

Olivia Pinnock, Pure London's Sustainability Ambassador chaired a thought-provoking panel on circular fashion joined by Cameron Saul CEO & Creative Director BOTTLETOP & #TOGETHERBAND and Harriet Saywood-Bellisario Founder & Designer Saywood. Cameron Saul said, "The fragility of our planet has touched each of us personally.  So how can we use the incredible power of the industry to transform how we use fashion and how can we be innovative and creative or regenerative in the materials that we use." Harriet Saywood expressed her belief that brands need to take ownership of a product throughout its entire life span, starting with how materials are sourced, to being designed ethically and with longevity to ensuring that at each stage thought is put into repairing, and repurposing and ensuring any waste material is put to use by others in the community. 

Priding itself on continual evolution and pushing boundaries to ensure the buying experience meets the needs of the  ever-changing customer and audience, Pure London will return to Olympia on the 11-13 February 2024, serving up even more innovations; diverse, new, sustainable, and international brands; the latest trends and creative presentations; as well as the industry's leaders and changemakers – delivering an exclusive showcase that cannot be found elsewhere.

Pure London's mission is to become the UK's most inspiring and diverse celebration of fashion, providing the most trusted trends insights, speaking up for sustainability, and offering transformative business opportunity.

For further information on Pure London visit www.purelondon.com