Festival of Fashion, Pure London ended after a successful three days of business and inspiration welcoming visitors from over 80 countries. Despite hurricane Ciara, buyers from stores including Selfridges, Debenhams, Next, Galeries Lafayette, Pamela Shiffer, Sunday Best, Asos, New Look, The Dressing Room, and Jules B flocked to Olympia for the AW20/21 presentation of over 1,300 inspirational and trend-led collections along with a three-day programme of insightful, challenging and stimulating content. While sourcing and manufacturing show Pure Origin attracted sourcing managers from brands including Prada, Burberry, Ann Summers, Gibbons, Next, Karen Millen, Maniere De Voir, Long Tall Sally, James Lakeland, Lipsy, Radley & Co, Monsoon, The Sourcing Team, YMC, Gloverall, Centro Sourcing, Amazon and TK Maxx.
Martin Arnold, Fashion Portfolio Director of Hyve Group plc said: “Buyers really made the effort this season
highlighting the importance and relevance that Pure London has in the buying calendar. Even with trains and flights cancelled due to the weather they showed the true grit of UK fashion to keep it business as usual, demonstrating the resilience of the market.” The show maintained a high level of visitors throughout the three days, with exhibitors commenting on the quality of the buyers and a continued interest in buying ahead for the new season.
The AW20/21 catwalk shows and Unique Style Platform trend presentations were a big success, whilst talks on the Nomad and Origin Stages were delivered to packed audiences. Over 2500 people digested topics focused on sustainability, authenticity, visual merchandising, textile production and fabric life-cycles, garment marking, sourcing advice, industry standards, fashion-tech innovation, forecasting, inclusivity and empowerment, as well as a daily morning briefing outlining the unexpected benefits of Brexit and a workshop session on building business strategy to be Brexit resilient.
Trend partner Unique Style Platform outlined the macro trends for the AW20/21 season, highlighting a younger generational divide of Greta Thunberg vs Love Island groups – those fighting fast fashion opposed to those over-consuming it. Jane Kellock, Founder and Creative Director of USP said; “We are entering an era of extremes and conflict in society. AW20/21 is about finding balance.” The four key trends, Hibernate, Attune, Opulence and Nu-Tech were brought to life on the catwalk with a showcase of exhibiting brand collections. The next show takes place on the 19th – 21st July 2020 at Olympia London.
