Scoop London announces two shows per season. Top Drawer London reports success with new venue and format.

The format of fashion industry trade fairs as we know it is being challenged today as many in the industry are now examining how the growing number of exhibition around the world are competing for both exhibitors and quality attendees.   
The way trade shows operate and their formats have become hot topics in recent weeks due to the cancellation of the Bread & Butter January 2015 fair after 13 years which caught many by surprise.  An interesting article recently reported by The Ethical Fashion Source Intelligence:- Trends in Tradeshows: It’sTime For An Evolution - offers insights into the changing trade show landscape. 
The general consensus in the industry is that fair organisers cannot take past successes for granted and their fairs need to evolve to meet the needs of all parties concerned in order to maintain the relevance of their shows for both exhibitors and trade attendees.That is why it was great to learn two London-based fairs see the importance to evolve according to the needs of the industry and traders.

For one, Scoop London has just announced that from this summer onwards there will be not one but two SCOOP shows taking place each season at the Saatchi Gallery.  That means four shows a year. The changes will take effect next season.

This timetable allows for pre-collections at the beginning of the season and another to coincide with London Fashion Week.  

According to SCOOP founder and managing director Karen Radley, the first show, Scoop International, will be held on August 2-4 this year as previously announced and will have a similar profile to the existing show by featuring primarily international contemporary collections. The second show of the season, Scoop London, will feature international designer collections, first and second lines and collections from emerging British designers.  It will run during London Fashion Week at the Saatchi Gallery, on September 20-22 this year.

In a recent interview, Ms Radley said the two-show solution has been devised to cater for overseas labels and their production agendas as well as the high-end collections and young British designers.  No doubt other trade fair and event organisers will be keeping a close watch on this new development. 

This season, Scoop will be held soley at the Saatchi Gallery from February 1-3, rather than the two venues it has previously been held at for the past three seasons.

Colourful clutch by Aspiga. Clothes by Rosalyn Hind.
Photos by Lucia Carpio for My Fashion Connect.

Meanwhile, Top Drawer London has reported a phenomenal success for its recent edition held last week thanks to a face-lift that met with industry approval.  Organisers at Clarion Events said a major reason for positive feedbacks from exhibitors and the industry was due to the new Fashion & Accessories Floor created this season, and the move to a new venue - Kensington Olympia.

Shopping bag by Ceannis Living Accessories.
Clothes by Ines Arconada Vazquez.

Occupying the first floor gallery, the Fashion & Accessories floor provided exhibitors a new platform to showcase their collections.  There were more than 300 fashion & accessories brands making up 1/3 of the Top Drawer Exhibition.  Also Clarion had seen a 10% increase in ‘fashion’ related brands, with many using the exhibition to launch collections and new product lines.

Rubber band jewellery by Delight London.
Clothes by Rosalyn Hind.

Michelle Prah Top Drawer Fashion & Accessories Director said: “We wanted to launch fashion of Top Drawer as it's own entity:  to give it its own dedicated platform within the show, to achieve this we've invested heavily in a focused marketing campaign to attract fashion buyers from the UK and Europe.

Direct feedback from exhibitors reveal the “high quality” flow of buyers has been constant over all three days of the exhibition, she said, and has seen a significant increase in international buyers, with orders being written and placed on exhibitor stands. Clarion report “excellent” numbers of Fashion & Accessories exhibitors booking on site to stand again, at the September show.

Ms Prah adds, “As I have known most of these fashion exhibitors for nearly 5 years, I know they will always give me their honest feedback on how a show has performed...for it to be working so well for them in terms of new contacts, amount of orders and interest from overseas makes me feel extremely proud of what has been achieved.”

Jewellery by Tempest Design.
Photos by Lucia Carpio for My Fashion Connect.

In addition to the new location and Fashion & Accessories platform Top Drawer London added an extra ‘style’ element to the exhibition with the introduction of the Fashion & Accessories catwalk shows produced by Cult of Fashion.