Largest ever Pure attracts record number of buyers

18 Feb '11

5 min read

International visitor numbers were up by 12% with more buyers from Europe and as far afield as Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and the USA.

In the past 2 years the number of visitors to Pure has increased by 50% while the size of the show in sqm has grown by 27%, demonstrating the ongoing interest in London as a must visit in the international buying calendar.

Pure London, Olympia was re-edited with the biggest selection of footwear and premium brands to date while Pure Spirit moved into Earls Court offering a dedicated young fashion event.This season saw over 1086 brands exhibiting across both shows with over 248 of these new to Pure.

Steve Newbold, Managing Director, Pure “The launch of Pure Spirit has been well received by the industry, it's the first time Pure has had a dedicated young fashion event. The vintage buses between Olympia and Earls Court worked incredibly well with strong crossover of buyers between the two shows. Co-locating with Pure Spirit for the first time was the dedicated menswear show Stitch which attracted many key retailers from the menswear industry. With so much on offer between the two venues buyers who came to the show stayed for longer, visiting for a second or even third day.”

A high level of UK buyers attended including Fenwick, Harrods, House of Fraser, Debenhams, Net a Porter, Brown Thomas,Liberty; as well as key independent retailers such as American Pie, Ark, Republic, Choice, Sunday Best and Psyche. International buyers included El Corte Ingles and Galeries Lafayette.

Geraldine Forin, Fashion Buyer at Galeries Lafayette, Paris. “We love the space and layout of Pure Spirit. It is really nice to see different young fashion brands. We love the Next Generation designers and brands, the show is very different to any other trade show we have been to before. We have seen lots of great UK designers and have been very inspired.”

“Pure Spirit has been fabulous, with so many good brands, we have found six new suppliers and bought solidly for two days. Next time I will plan in a full 3 days at the show it has been so worthwhile. Having a dedicated show for young fashion has been great, the catwalk show and seminars are really helpful, you feel at heart of the fashion industry here” Jo Edge, owner of Ark commented.

Pure will continue to look for new brands and create innovative ways to bring new buyers to the show. This season WGSN retail experts presented an in-depth forecast for Autumn Winter 11/12 on the contemporary stage at Pure London while the Next Generation section in Pure Spirit created a new platform for emerging designers to present their cutting-edge collections.

Mark Ashton of Concept Fashion which represents brands such as Ichi, TFNC, Little Mistress visited the show and commented “Pure Spirit was interesting. It actually reflected the high street and indie circuit as it is today. The brands that were showcasing are representative of most of the market share within the sector whether it be production or as their branded offer. There were a lot of brilliant new brands like Bgirl, Custo as well as staple brands that always do well such as Ruby Rocks. The crowds were Pure closed its doors on Tuesday night with a record breaking 22% increase in visitor numbers, compared to February 2010.

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