Dear diary. Went to Pure London x JATC this week. And what did I find? Think knitwear (everywhere). A print explosion. Lots of attention to detail. Plenty of quirks. A tendency to add new categories. Many, many “cute giftables”. And a fondness for leopard and cat motifs.
There was also a feeling that we might have left quiet luxury behind because those pops of colours and oh-so-busy prints were inescapable.
Oh, and buyers were happy that “we’ve held our prices” was something virtually every exhibitor said.
Pure London x JATC was actually the first time that Pure and Just Around The Corner were combined, and while that could have been a risky move, it drew universal praise from the buyers and exhibitors on the ground that Fashionnetwork.com spoke to.
Without revealing the actual figures, Event Director of Pure London, Gloria Sandrucci, said the show welcomed record numbers of new brands this season. And those brands were clearly a draw for visitors like buyers from stores and e-stores including John Lewis, Debenhams, ASOS, Liberty London, Marks & Spencer, Next, McElhinneys, Macbees, QVC, Cordelia James, Morleys, Jago, Rosypenguin, Agatha Boutique, Voisins, Urban Outfitters, Frasers Group, and New Look. Galeries Lafayette also turned up, as did the V&A.
It’s not worth repeating every positive comment (although one yoga brand talked of Day One being “a fairytale day for us” and said they had to create a queueing system with 50 new orders on the day). But Andrea Carless of Maison Et Vie summed it up: “I love all the new brands from JATC, I haven’t been able to go to that show before. Being in South Devon I can’t come to London multiple times or visit lots of different places when I am here, so I love everything being together and combined in the one show.”
Sandrucci highlighted how the “disjointed dateline with all the fashion events that were in London… was making it really hard for the buyers. We wanted to simplify that. To give them one location where everything could come together”.
And JATC founder Juls Dawson added that “we’re stronger as one. It mirrors the trend that’s happening in other capital cities like Copenhagen with the coming together of CIFF and Revolver. We’re seeing the same sort of spirit here. The union makes absolute sense”.
Playing to the gallery
It’s interesting that the two shows being combined saw organiser Hyve making use of Olympia’s gallery suites for the first time since the (seemingly very far off) pre-Covid era. As a regular visitor to the show, I remember regular complaints from brands in the gallery feeling cut off from the main action.
But this time, to misquote the name of the famous music hall song, it really was a case of “The brand I love is up in the gallery” with the area being densely packed with visitors.
Love the lifestyle
‘Lifestyle’ was a big selling point for multiple labels.
Joules was a big draw. Back following its sale to Next and founder Tom Joule, it tested the waters last time and was at this show to really sell. And sell it did, taking “multiple orders”.
Sales Managers Sara Paton and Paul Lakin said buyers bought into the “new more elevated” direction of the brand. “High-end country casual lifestyle with that preppy look,” as Paton explained. It was also a more edited Joules with a reduced option count, a clearer image, a touch of humour and plenty of detail that added a more quality edge.
At times that meant quirky with the Jonty the Fox motif on knits, or more classic fair isle sweaters (a key trend for the season across the show), plus equestrian details, a hero paisley print and even a ‘country-gent’ three-piece suit.
“We’ve got back all the quirks and hidden detail that people expect from the brand. It’s quality at the right price. We have a definite direction, we know our target audience we know our brief, customers can see Tom [Joule]’s DNA in it,” Paton said.
Over at Brakeburn, marketing exec Claire Perry explained that this was the brand’s first time back since pre-Covid with the company having expanded in the intervening years so it wanted to make “a bit of a bang”.
Based in Poole in Dorset, it’s riding the wave of the lifestyle trend and is now focusing more on outfit-building than standalone pieces (although not neglecting those key items). Visitors to the show were fixated on a particular green reversible quilt/fleece cold weather casual jacket, as well as a new jean shape for the brand (wide but structured) that teams well with another important piece, the knitted tank. They were loving the fair isles too, as well as its in-house print stories and a wider offering of print dresses (also positioned as co-ordinating pieces for the knits).
Interestingly, the brand has also branched out into pyjamas this season for the first time, echoing a move into lifestyle and giftable categories being seen on multiple stands at the show. And it has chosen to carry over prints from its dresses to tie the at-home pieces closely to daywear.
Meanwhile, Harper & Lewis was also creating a buzz with its lifestyle offer of (mainly) retro fleeces. The company began a decade ago as a vintage brand but moved into own-brand a few years back.
It stood out for its strong colour stories — that’s ‘strong’ as in well-put-together rather than overpowering, as some of the tones were quite muted, even if the combos really managed to pop. And the printed fleeces are proving particularly popular, whether that’s for summer (the company sells well at music festivals), or winter when consumers are wearing them for a general outdoor lifestyle, indoor cosiness and even for skiing.
Senior designer Emily Savage said that “everything we do is based on 80s, 90s retro — the prints, the colours. The younger generation are seeing it for the first time and think it’s really cool. People in their 50s, 60s, 70s are seeing it for the second time and they’ve got that whole nostalgia feeling.”
Knits and prints
One-woman brand Cara & The Sky was also making a big impact as it summed up the importance of knitwear for AW24. In a knit-focused season, designer Cara Melzack was having a barnstorming show and she was really happy about the Pure/JATC link-up.
“Having one main show is the right move,” she told us. “People aren’t split, everyone’s here. Shows are expensive, a lot of time and money. People like that [my product is] British made and that it’s unique but… I don’t have a showroom, I run my brand on my own so to have a home for three days is good”.
As for the product, she was clearly making an impact in a knit-heavy season with individual details such as surprising colour flecks on an otherwise solid colour sweater, thinner stripes (in a largely wider stripe season), quirky cables such as a new heart design, and joyful colour choices — think lime green, red, blue and pink.
Melzack had some news too telling us that it’s the first year for her ‘mini-me’ capsule that “lots of people have been asking for” as some of her boutique customers also sell kidswear. She’s added spring/summer knits too this time in a drive to give her business all-year appeal, having previously focused only on autumn/winter. “It’s very small, but I thought let’s just test the water. I’ve had orders too,” she said.
Also going big on knitwear for AW24 was Sugarhill Brighton, which also mixed a strong feel for quirky prints, the other key trend from the show. Wholesale sales manager Stacey Saunders and wholesale accounts manager Becci Osborne said the brand previously showed at JATC, but they were happy about the change.
“It’s great for visitors having the shows under one roof, especially as Scoop is just around the corner. It’s good for planning and seeing everybody in one place. We’ve written orders with existing accounts and had some interesting conversations with new stores as well.”
They explained that “for us it’s always been about our prints and our vibrancy, plus our knitwear. The knitwear category this season for us has been particularly strong, that’s probably where we’ve done most of our orders. We’ve got some really quirky pieces (like crazy cat prints) and some more commercial items.”
It was a similar story for dresses where the silhouette (universally loose) meant less than the print story. “People gravitate towards the print,” they said. “We’ve got lots of conversation prints, autumnal ones, more whimsical, lots of animals, a very cool zodiac print which has been really popular and our cat print with lucky charms.”
A different approach to knit was seen at Revolution Now, the New York-based label showing in the JATC gallery, the event also marking the firm’s European debut before it also shows in Paris and Berlin.
In this case it’s a menswear offer led by knit blazers, which sales director Carole Alexander said were “extremely strong” for the brand. Continuing the add-on categories theme, they came not only with matching scarves but dog sweaters — “love me love my dog,” as Alexander said. “Everyone is looking for cute giftables,” she added. “We’ve had interest even from ladies’ stores that want to do a bit of men’s as well. The jacket has been outstanding and we do it in a lot of different patterns and colours. Everyone is loving the purple story and the green. A lot of these jackets have been important to us, especially the ones that are a little bit more structured, but are still soft knit pieces”.
And a special mention…
There were plenty of accessories stands at the show but one that stood out was BrolleyMate. It’s not what we usually expect to see in the accessories area and founder Sanjay Patel seemed surprised too — at least at the extent of the interest in his expandable umbrella cases.
“It’s a very new brand,” he said, “straight out of the box, at the show to get experience and exposure, but also to convey our message, which is to reduce consumer waste. My background is technology, but my better half lost an umbrella while she was shopping. An umbrella case would have helped, but we couldn’t find anything that was suitable. So I designed something that stretches to fit any size of umbrella. People no longer need to worry about whether it fits the length. You buy it basically by size and type — adult, kids, compact, golfing umbrella.”
The idea is that with an accessory that can be worn over the shoulder, people are less likely to leave their umbrella somewhere and so less likely to contribute to the many brollies in landfill. That’s a message that’s bound to go down well so it will be interesting to see what happens to the brand from here.
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