Attire Accessories - Mar/Apr 2019 (Issue 75)

48 Buyers’ haven Top Drawer S/S kicked off the show season with more than 1,500 brands showcasing their wares to a high calibre of buyers. We look back at the Olympia London-based event Top Drawer reported a high quality of buyers, with more than 1,500 brands showcasing their wares to some of retail’s most significant names. Among those attending were department stores Liberty, Fenwick, Selfridges, Harrods, John Lewis and global retailers WestWing Now, Le Bon Marché, Tribe Dubai and Bergdorf Goodman. Buyers attended from across the UK and Europe and from as far afield as Japan, Saudi Arabia, Korea, the UAE, New Zealand and Australia. Having walked all 11 curated sectors spread across Olympia London, I can attest to the wide spectrum of brands across the lifestyle industries. The show attracts a diverse range of retailers, from concept stores, museums shops, boutiques and independents to multiple retailers, garden centres and supermarkets. Those searching for everything for the modern man would inevitably have visited MR., with the male-focused sector attracting top buyers such as Liberty, Eclectic Hound, Lewes Atelier and Black by Design. What I noted from my walk around the gift sector was the growing industry crossover. There were numerous giftware companies that had incorporated jewellery lines over the past couple of years, with the resounding opinion that they were working extremely well and were helping to bring in sales. Visit the September show for a look at the A/W edit. Who: Top Drawer, topdrawer.co.uk Where: Olympia, London When: 8 th -10 th September, 2019 SHOW TALK We chatted to some of our key advertisers, who witnessed firsthand the benefits of the show. Alejandra Campos, event director, Top Drawer, Clarion Events Ltd, spoke exclusively to Louise Prance about the show. “I am very proud of the SS19 edition of Top Drawer. We kicked off the season with a real buzz and it was great to see our retail sector report positive trading. This is a reflection of the hard work and fantastic creativity of our selection of exhibitors and the caliber of the buyers in attendance who made this edition absolutely out of the ordinary. Firmly established as the UK’s premium lifestyle event, the show now covers 11 curated sectors and has been designed to enhance our customers’ all-round experience. In the fashion world, Top Drawer has become the platform of choice for the very best fashion accessories and jewellery labels to showcase their new collections to our uniquely diverse community of buyers from the UK and beyond. These represent department stores, multiple retailers and fashion boutiques to concept stores, online retailers and museums shops. In our FASHION edit, which is now the largest in the UK, they saw the launch of MR, a dedicated area and trail for all things men, the return of CAPSULE, presenting premium concept collections, and one-off handmade pieces in CRAFT. We now cannot wait to build on this success as we look forward to yet another extraordinary Top Drawer in September.”