About Pure London and why I went to a fashion trade show
I like to go to fashion trade shows once in a while, even though I’m a content creator and more of an end-user than a buyer or supplier. The reason why is pretty simple; it’s great to go and interact with suppliers, buyers, local and indie designers, and see how the industry is progressing. Though these shows are generally business to business, events, it’s always useful to keep an eye out to what the buyers are eyeing because these items will be in our shops in about six months time.
So, that is what I done on a windy Sunday afternoon; I visited the Pure London trade show at Kensington’s Olympia Exhibition Hall in west London. The event is free for the public (you just need to go and register on their website here) and is running from the 10th to the 12th February. You can also find out more about the event by clicking here.
Trade shows like these are generally not for consumers, but great if you want to understand and see more of the business side of the fashion industry. Seminars are hosted daily, they run catwalks with their interpretation of the main trends to come and a chance to have a look at all the exhibitors.
Seminars
The seminars run two to three seminars a day. On day one, which was the day I went, they had talks on past, present and future of sustainable fashion and an afternoon seminar on the future of influence and influencers.
These are well worth attending the Olympia for by themselves, because they give a unique business perspective to topics we all know and care about. As an influencer, I know what my role looks like from a content creator and consumer’s perspective, but it’s good to hear how business view this trend and how they try to approach it.
Exhibitors
With hundreds of exhibitors and stands at the trade show; there are a lot of brands to look at and admire their wares. I couldn’t possibly go through all of them, and because this is a trade show that caters to all ages, demographics and markets, not all of them apply to me or what I like to focus on on this website. This article won’t focus too much on all the different brands, because it’s not as useful for my readers since half of the items you can’t purchase easily, but there are some really cool brands that I wanted to share with you.
Alex Max
What I like about Alex Max is, is that they are an Italian handbag brand with very vibrant, bright and trend conscious bags that are affordable and cute to buy. I definitely recommend checking out their bags, which you can see by clicking on here.
My Doris
These guys are a British contemporary jewellery brand, where they sustainably source their raw materials and keep the costs down through recycling and reusing, which ends up with them designing beautifully contemporary jewellery that looks a heck of a lot more expensive than it actually is. For more information, you can check them out here.
Cuffie Regina
Cuffie Regina are an Italian accessories and hat designer, that loves making embellished beanies, beautiful pom pom hats and cute hair accessories. Go and check them out here.
Powder
Powder are a UK accessories brand, with an emphasis on bright and colourful prints, luxurious silky scarves and fun socks. They are so worth checking out, and you can even buy online from them.
Soul Analyse
Soul Analyse are a British jewellery brand with clean minimalist designs and an emphasis on positive affirmation in both its jewellery, but it’s entire brand. They write the most beautiful affirmations on their bracelets, which you can stack up. Check them out here (you can also buy online!)
Love Rocks London
A London-based jewellery brand started by an actor, that lives by the motto of the more the merrier and nothing is too extra. Their designs are cute, bright and youthful and very extra. You can check out the website here.
Catwalk show
Who doesn’t love a good catwalk show? Everything from music, the lighting, the models and staring at clothes and how they were styled. It could be something as high end as a Chanel couture show, right down to a trade show, they’re fun no matter who it’s done by. Covered were six main trends, and one of their trends was to showcase Turkish designs by emerging Turkish designers, which was extra cool to see. So, have a look through the gallery below and enjoy.
