This season is the keenly awaited first iteration of hybrid trade show Pure London x JATC. Womenswear trade show Pure London and menswear, womenswear and lifestyle trade show Just Around The Corner announced in August that they would join forces for the first time for the autumn/winter 24 season.
The trade show is being held at Olympia in West London between 11-13 February, with premium womenswear show Scoop held simultaneously at Olympia West, which has a separate entrance a short walk away.
In the halls of Pure London x JATC, which are still separated despite being under one roof, all Pure London womenswear brands are exhibiting on the ground floor of the Olympia exhibition centre. The JATC section houses menswear, beauty, accessories and lifestyle businesses on the gallery floor.
Pure London x JATC has around 300 brands exhibiting. These numbers are down slightly on the AW23 when the shows were held seperately – around 250 brands showed at Pure London and JATC had around 130 brands. Scoop is hosting around 200 designers – on par with its AW23 season.
There were around 33 new or recently launched brands showing at Pure x JATC, including Drapers 30 Under 30 alumna Isabelle Pennington-Edmead, who displayed silky, colourful slip dresses. Mainstream wholesale brands including Joules also exhibited at Pure x JATC, after first doubling down on wholesale for the SS24 season under the new ownership of Next and founder Tom Joule.
Buyers praised the convenience of Pure London x JATC being housed in the same location for the first time.
Megan Bain, retail manager at knitwear and womenswear independent Hume Sweet Hume, in Orkney Island, Scotland said:
“JATC and Pure joining together has made things really nice and easy for me — having things in one place is ideal as I’ve travelled from north Scotland to be here. Having it joined up has created a good buzz which I haven’t noticed in previous years. It’s a really good show so far.”
Katie Clark is launching independent store Big Blue Sky in south-west Wales in March and attended Pure x JATC for the first time. She told Drapers: “I wanted to see the product in real life and have placed an order already. There is something for everyone.”
Laura Matheson, head of buying at St Peter’s Garden Centre in Worcester and Katerine Taylor, head of retail and marketing at Goch Garden Centre in Caernarfon, said: “We are looking for new suppliers today with eco credentials, and having everything in one building [with Pure and JATC joined up] makes it easier for us.
“The shows being joined for the first time is what brought us here. There are too many individual shows, and it gets to the point where you stop going, and lose touch with new brands.”
Scoop AW24
The entrance to Scoop was lavishly decorated with an Alice in Wonderland meets Orient Express inspired theme. However some noted that the separate entrance, which was located a few minutes walk away from Pure x JATC, with a taxi provided in case of bad weather, was not convenient.
Helen Curtis-Allen, co-founder of Luvvit boutique in Bishop’s Waltham said: “I am here looking for clothes, accessories and handbags. I am always looking for new things, and will of course visit my current suppliers to put in an order for the new season.
“It’s good the shows are joined up but the segregation [of Pure London x JATC and Scoop] isn’t helpful. It’s quieter here than it has been in previous years and definitely has less EU brands than before. I have being coming here for years and it’s the best [trade show] for UK clothes.”
Karen Radley, founder and managing director of Scoop told Drapers that less than 30% of buyers cross over between Pure London x JATC and Scoop. She continues: “It’s been a healthy start for the first morning. Sunday mornings are usually a slow start, but not today.
“Scoop is not a trade show, it’s a showroom space — it’s personal, it’s edited, it should feel like you’ve just walked into someone’s showroom. I want to give people a good time… buyers come out four or five times a year and it should be a nice experience.
“There is a lot of refresh going on within the collections. People have played it very safe for quite a few years now, but [this season] is a little bit more forward thinking, which is how they should be.”
Jill Bennison, owner of the Three Boutique in Alfriston, Sussex, praised the environment and brand selection at Scoop: “We know the brands that work for our customer, but it’s always nice to find brands we haven’t done before, and have something fresh. It’s a nice show, well spaced out – we come every year.”
Natasha Yeomans and Rob Derbyshire were at Scoop to buy for independent stores Young Ideas and Henmores. Natasha said: “It’s a really good range of brands, and a great experience. We’ve sussed out what we like and done a walk through – we’re usually looking for new brands to bring in. It’s nice to find something a little bit different that still fits with our customer image. We don’t really come with an agenda, but it’s good to see brands we wouldn’t have known about otherwise.”
Gloria Sandrucci, event director at Pure London x JATC told Drapers: “It was so exciting standing by the entrance this morning and seeing the buyers queuing up by the door, its a nice sign for what is to come over the next three days. The industry asked us to bring the show together, so we wanted to give retailers a reason to come and optimise their time in one venue.”
“It’s exciting that we have a strong presence from British brands this year, and strong global representation of key brands and designers entering the market. It is roughly a 50:50 split from international to UK brands.”
Juls Dawson, creative director of Pure London x JATC: “It’s nice to see the show coming together. It made sense to not have three separate dates and locations, and merge the shows together as you see in other trade shows in other capital cities across the world. Finally everything is under one roof and we don’t have to choose when to come – it’s what the industry asked for, and we delivered.”
“Traditionally, Sunday is the day for independents to visit and that’s what we have seen so far, Tuesday is usually the big day for key account holders — but I know buyers from Jarrolds and Asos arrived this morning.”
https://www.drapersonline.com/news/pure-london-x-jatc-scoop-aw24-theres-something-for-everyone
