We head to Pure London, the UK’s largest fashion trade show.

While you’ve probably been watching all the action at New York Fashion Week pop off – not to mention getting excited about LFW hitting in a few days – we were busy checking out a fashion event that might have flown under your radar: Pure London. As the UK’s largest fashion trade show, Pure London is always a fixture on the calendar to look forward to and this season was no exception. Particularly interesting was the introduction of Pure Menswear, which gave us a chance to see a whole bunch of menswear labels that might otherwise be missed amid the big name brands of London Collections: Men.

On top of those new additions, the huge array of womenswear designers that we’ve come to expect from Pure London were all present and correct, with a whopping 700 brands on show. It’s a testament to the guys behind the event that even with so many different labels vying for attention (including couture and bespoke offerings from Pure Premium brands), everything at the Olympia venue felt vibrant rather than, as could so easily be the case, chaotic. There is, of course, too much to see at once, but fortunately the show runs over a space of three days, allowing ample time to appreciate all the apparel, shoes, jewelry and accessories on display.

As well as some excellent presentations and runway shows (that were, we can guarantee, a darn sight less stressful than their LFW counterparts – who needs seating plan arguments?), Pure also hosted some standout guest speakers, workshops, and industry seminars; We managed to catch Sara Maggioni, from trend forecasting giants WGSN, talk about some of the key menswear motifs we’ll be seeing more of over the next year, as well as Stephen Hall, formerly the Retail Visual Director of River Island, sharing his practical advice on Visual Merchandising. And the best part? It’s all under one roof, so there are no rain soaked, high-heeled treks across town necessary. Trust us, it matters.