320 global brands partake at Pure London A/W13 show

The 'who’s who’ of fashion buying attended Pure London, including many retailers found on this year’s Drapers Inspiring Indies shortlist, and winner ‘The Dressing Room’. Key independent retailers such as Anne Furbank, Attic, Black White Denim, Diffusion, Doodie Stark, Lewis Yates, Love KR, M&Co, Okeefe, Richmond Classics, and AB10 were joined by etailers such as ASOS, Amazon, Figleaves, and BrandAlley.

This season saw an increase in department store buyers with the likes of Fenwick, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser, Debenhams, Selfridges and Hoopers, whilst the high street was out in force with names including Author, Berties, Dune, Joy, Mango, Monsoon, New Look, Next, Oasis, Office, Top Shop, Urban Outfitters, and Warehouse all visiting the show.

‘It’s been great to see so many new and diverse brands, I thought I was coming to see brands I already stock, but there is such a great atmosphere, buzz and excitement at Pure London, that I picked up a new jewellery brand and niche clothing brand, who I want to keep under wraps.  Pure London is a great platform to discover new and exciting brands, I can see them in their studios but it is great to see them next to each other.’  Enthused Sarah Clare, Owner of What Sarah Did, Hertfordshire.

Exhibitors reported plenty of orders being written by quality retailers from all sectors. Fiona Freeman, Production Co-ordinator of womenswear brand Darling, commented; ‘We have had an amazing show; it has been consistently busy across the three days and we have taken lots of good orders. This season has been a lot better for us than the last, we have all really enjoyed being at the show, there is a great atmosphere.’

This season over 1,000 brands were presented including directional fashion, footwear and accessories. Underlying the importance of Pure London on the international buying calendar, the show played host to buyers from Europe including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, and as far afield as Hong Kong, Japan and Australia.

Mark Ashton, Managing Director of Little Mistress, commented; ‘The reaction to our new collection has been really strong. We came with a target of signing 60 new accounts for Little Mistress and we achieved 75% of that figure by the end of the first day. New accounts have been opened in new international markets including South Africa, Spain, Cyprus, Belgium and Luxemburg.

Pure London focuses on bringing key international retailers and brands to the show and this season presented 320 international labels, a year on year increase of 6%. Amongst these were 63 French brands, 35 Italian brands, 49 Spanish, 12 Portuguese and 18 German. An international team is now in place headed by International Sales Director, Hans Stoter, with representatives in key markets including France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy.