LSS REVIEW
1st – 3rd March 2015, held at the Copthorne Tara Hotel, London Kensington H
eld twice yearly at London’s Copthorne Tara Hotel, a five minute walk from Kensington Underground Station, the three-day London Shoe
Show has become a ‘must attend’ event for boutique owners and independent footwear retailers alike.
One could not fail to be impressed by the variety and quality of the
footwear ranges on offer from some of Europe’s finest shoe factories at the London Shoe Show this season. On the day that I visited the show, the aisles were busy and the footwear agents on the stands were clearly writing orders.
The timing of the London Shoe Show, held towards the end of the season,
after the major international shoe shows are over, allows buyers an opportunity to make their final orders in a relaxed environment, with free refreshments, tea, coffee and biscuits, available throughout the day.
At the recent event in March, there were 19 exhibitors showing around 48
brands over two floors in one building. The proximity of exhibitors makes product comparison simpler, an important consideration for the retailers I met up with at the show in March.
Many of the customers that I chatted to at the show, including department
store buyers and independent footwear retailers, indicated their satisfaction with the selection of footwear on offer and expressed their intention to return next season.
Exhibitors this season included: Alessandra Voltan, Rolf Buhr
, Javier Carbonell, F abrizio Corsini. Chris
Dagless, Graham Davies, Paul Dugdale, Lewis Ford, Sam Hunt, Stephen Joseph, Olivier Lievre, Justin Morgan, Charlie Nicole, Peter Pearce, Nicola Sexton, Caroline Sheppard, Ajay Sobti, Martin Ward and Johnny Woolfson.
What the exhibitors had to say:
Organisers comment Commenting on the London Shoe Show in March, organiser,
footwear agent Justin Morgan, told Footwear Today Magazine “The timing of the London event again proved ideal this year, with the earlier international shows proving to be just a little too early. More buyers than ever chose to use London as their time for writing orders. The relaxed environment, convenient location and flexibility of suppliers as well as the hotel, means that buyers can spend as much time as they need to place their orders. "The Spring show – in September - is again over-subscribed
with more companies wanting to offer this type of buying environment to their customers in the capital at the right time.”
Justin Morgan Managing Director - HB Shoes Ltd T
el: 01664 454 920 Co-organisers comment
Co-organiser, Footwear Agent, Martin Ward, added “We were pleased with the overall attendance at the London Shoe Show as there were lots of regular customers and some new faces. Interestingly it was the Monday that proved to be the best trading day as many retailers had decided to keep Sunday as
their well-earned day of rest. Tuesday was busier than last season, although the 4pm finish was about right with just a few customers doing business as the doors closed. “The new London Shoe Show website
(
www.londonshoeshow.co.uk) seems to have created extra interest and we feel as a group that our future will be best served by sticking together to form a comprehensive offer of 45/50 brands for retailers to peruse at their leisure in comfortable and relaxed surroundings. Our next London Shoe Show will once again start 9 days after Micam finishes in Milan: just time for us to receive the last-minute samples: 13 - 15 September 2015 in The Copthorne Tara Hotel, Kensington.”
Martin Ward - Vitti Love
martinwardfootwear@hotmail.co.uk
Exibitors comments
"At HB our collections have a strong Spring bias, whilst Ara has been equally dominant in the winter season. We are excited about September as our buyers have already confirmed appointments to finalise their actual purchase at the Tara, given the success of the March Show.” Justin Morgan, Footwear Agent HB Shoes, Ara and Steptronic.
“Cara London has an excellent forward sell in for AW15, the brand continues to grow from strength to strength with a strong core following. Some good orders were taken at the show, attendance was down on last time which was partly due to pulling the show forward by 3 weeks. For SS16 selling, the September show will be 5 weeks after the major trade fairs which will allow buyers more time to select and write based on sell through.” Caroline Sheppard, Footwear Agent Cara London
“With many factories shying away from long boots (after a
difficult 2014 Winter season), we were delighted with the reaction to the wide-ranging Vitti Love boot collection. Long boots were still definitely in demand and this year we were happy to offer plenty of models and constructions that were fresh and up-to-date. Over-the-knee boots were a BIG HIT!, as were ankle boots
with sporty soles. Pointed toes also played their part in creating a new image for Vitti Love. Leather has overtaken suede as the prime material of choice as it is seen as a more durable alternative for our climate. Patent also featured as a material of real interest, especially in two-tone combinations. This season we have 16 new customers on our books so Vitti Love must be doing something right!” Martin Ward, Agent, Footwear Agent, Vitti Love.
20 • FOOTWEAR TODAY
• MAY 2015
Save the date
London Shoe Show 13th – 15th
September 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36