Trade fashion event Pure London joined forces with French trade show Who's Next and Premiere Classe to host a buying event in Dubai last week. The Middle East Fashion Days took place from 19th – 21st October 2010 with a range of top labels exhibiting in the Pure Selection.
The three day event hosted an exclusive mix of over 100 ready-to-wear and accessory brands. Regional and international retailers attended the event from Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and the UAE.
Set in the prestigious and luxurious, Madinat Jumeirah hotel, 15 designer brands showcased their collections under the Pure Selection umbrella. Designers included Cutler and Gross, Angeleye, Lie Down I Think I Love You, Ashiana, Mischa Barton, Me & Thee, A Gifts from the Gods and Jones & Jones.
'This was Cutler and Gross's first exhibition in The UAE, as we try to expand our business in this region. The exhibition was beautifully laid out, well organised and really gave us the opportunity to meet with the key buyers from Dubai's fashion boutiques.' Commented Anna Komanius, Head of Sales and Marketing at Cutler and Gross. Anastasia Buisman from Ashiana commented 'The show gave us an insight into the Gulf and how business operates there. It's about meetings and contacts and we did leave the show with some leads to follow up on.'
Fashion brand Angeleye showcased their collection on the catwalk and had an amazing reaction. Samantha Marchant, Sales and marketing executive of Angeleye commented 'The catwalk went really well, it was such a success for us! We had a lot of positive feedback and interest from the show. It was good to get an insight into Dubai and the fashion market out there; we gained some good contacts.'
Lorna Hall, Senior Retail Editor of the fashion and style forecaster WGSN, hosted daily trend presentations with retail industry experts at the event. The highly attended seminars focused on how designers and brands that are new to the market could better serve the customers of the Middle East.
The third day was a dedicated consumer day, allowing local fashionistas to shop and help promote tomorrow's retail players. This concept gave the brands an exclusive opportunity to test the market trends by presenting their collections to the end-consumer. This played a significant role in the event and it was a huge success.
Sam Bleasby, Event Director of Pure London commented 'Pure London teamed up with Who's Next to build a strong fashion buying event across the Middle East region. The long-term challenge is to establish a trade market for wholesale fashion brands in the region. It's a journey where we will learn through experience and develop new relationships with both exhibitors and buyers along the way. By bringing Pure brands to Dubai we hope that over time new retail departments and boutiques will emerge that specialise in niche, exciting wholesale brands. The exhibitors have picked up some good contacts and are also starting to understand the challenges and opportunities here.'
20240830145952.gif)
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "UBM China (Shanghai)")
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
