LONDON FAIR REPORT: PURE, TBC & MARGIN

London, England, UK, 15 Feb. 2008

For their a/w 2008-09 editions, the London trade shows (TBC, Margin and The Park, held February 10 to 11; Pure, held February 10 to 12) all went through something of a renaissance, for better or worse, revealing either new formats, sections or management.

The womenswear show Pure following on from last season’s successful revamp of the Spirit section, the area catering to the young and urban retail segment, saw the launch of Pure Footwear this season. Showcasing a varied mix of labels ranging from Terry De Havilland, Terra Plana, Audley and Melissa to Rocket Dog, Snowjoggers and J Shoes, the space provided a versatile footwear platform that proved a hit with the buyers.

Another new feature at Pure was the Spirit Catwalk Show. Desigual, Entoomemetto and Piezak were some of the new labels exhibiting for the first time at Spirit who also showed their designs on the catwalk.

Change was in the air even at TBC. After a disappointing last season with exhibitor numbers reduced and the show lacking in energy, hopes were high as the new organizing body, Idex Media, stepped in to revamp the show, promising to give it a new lease of life and a more international appeal.

When approaching the show venue it was already clear that TBC had changed hands: huge signposts helped steer visitors in the right direction, unlike in previous seasons when they were confusingly scattered around the streets. Despite the brownie points awarded for organizational skills and corporate value, the new format lacked creativity: the sterile, carpeted space counteracted the energy of the labels on show, and failed to convey the edginess of London street culture that visitors and exhibitors ultimately come to experience, aside from getting down to business.

On the exhibitors’ side, the selection shrank to only about 60 labels including Ringspun, WESC, Garbstone, Farah, Edwin Jeans, Lost Property, Boxfresh, Monkey Genes and Skunkfunk.

The buzz that was lacking at TBC was to be indulged in at Margin (margin.tv), this is a show that nicely captures the young and edgy London vibe with its laid-back feel and energetic array of young labels. The news of the season here materialized in Traidfare, a new section featuring ethically sourced, and in some cases also organically produced, collections from brands such as Komodo, Organic Stereo, and Cyclus.

Emma Holmqvist, London Correspondent

“Mucho Gracias for the debut show, couldn’t have gone much better.” + Brandnativa with Cyclus + www.bagzontherun.com

“Very happy to meet eco-friendly designers, that was very interesting… very cutting-edge. We came here to find some new English brands for a French website that will be dedicated only to ethical fashion, interior, and beauty items, and we were pleased to meet some people that we hadn’t met already and who themselves are interested in having some French distributors.”
+ Les Roseaux Sauvage, Paris +

FashionUnited.co.uk

Margin gears up for LFW
Wednesday, 06 February 2008
Margin has expanded the show by opening up an addtional 20% of floorspace to make room for the growing number of exciting UK and International start-ups looking to exhibit in London during London Fashion Week. Margin will be showcasing its biggest show to date and this season as expanded its Magazine and Media Lounge. The show, which has grown to over 90 exhibitors, is one of the UK’s most diverse selection of Mens and Womens streetwear exhibitors.
Known amongst industry insiders as the key show for sourcing new labels, the February 2008 edition will feature 80% of exhibitors making their global debut. Originally established to provide a relevant showcase for upscale streetwear brands such as Dephect, Lost Property and Ames Bros, the show has expanded gradually and carefully each season to encompass additional product areas.
The sharp tailoring and elegant designerwear of the Kreateur area has been honed each season to highlight cutting-edge garments with labels such as Social Suicide, Missmilne, Emily & Fin, and Dusty. In August, the new accessories area GILD was added to the show to focus on directional accessories ranges by new brands such as Punky Pins, Pik & Pokket, Prod, and Zillion who will be exhibited in the February GILD.
New for February 2008, Margin has added an area for eco-aware streetwear labels called TraidFare , highlighting brands that use organic fabrics and manufacture responsibly and sustainably such as Kuyichi, Komodo, THTC, Organic Stereo, Regenerate, Rise-Up, Moly Kulte and Jumble and others.
Margin will take place on the 10th 11th & 12th February 2008 at The Vinyl Factory Gallery in Soho , map online at www.margin.tv/map

www.FashionUnited.co.uk

Margin is pleased to announce the results of the exchange programme with International Fashion Fair Tokyo +Organised by leading Japanese fashion industry publisher Senken Shimbun, the International Fashion Fair (IFF) is one of the largest fashion trade exhibitions in Japan.British brands Vacant and Reveller Clothing Co who are exhibiting at Margin London in February 2008 have been selected by the IFF committee to exhibit free of charge at the IFF Tokyo show in the directional hall called “Terroir” for international brands +By return Japanese labels Cyrhyme and Toumei-Manila have been selected by Margin to exhibit their unique ranges of reworked menswear and directional womenswear respectively in the 101 area for new labels at Margin London.

Relevant Links +
www.margin.tv
www.senken.co.jp/exhibition