Pure London announces keynote speakers for February show

UK fashion trade fair Pure London has announced the line-up of talks for its edition taking place between February 12 and 14 at Olympia London.

The two keynote speakers for the upcoming show are Ed Burstell, a retail executive who served for eight years as managing director of Liberty London, and Piers Carpenter, a jewellery designer who won the BBC’s All That Glitters competition.

Burstell will kick off the talks on Sunday when he joins Lauretta Roberts, the co-founder, editor in chief & CEO of The Industry, to discuss how the fashion industry can continue to grow in a sustainable and ethical way.

Meanwhile on Monday, Carpenter will talk about his journey to be crowned “Britain’s top jeweller for 2022”, charting his experiences and advice along the way.

The line-up of talks also includes a seminar on Sunday by Thierry Bayle, the founder of Global Fashion Management, about “the art and science of buying”, while Amy Hobson, SocialB’s Partner and Social Media Trainer, will host a workshop about how to create an omnichannel experience for customers.

On Monday, Elizabeth Stiles, a fashion and textiles brand consultant, joins Therese Oertenblad, the founder of Small Business Collaborative, to discuss how to sell on Instagram. Meanwhile, a Sustainable Fashion Panel will include Annick Ireland, the founder at Immaculate Vegan, Josefin Wanner, the founder and designer at Trad Collective, and moderator Olivia Pinnock, Pure London’s sustainability ambassador.

On Tuesday, the final day of Pure London, there will be a “wellbeing hour” with Roo Davies, the founder of The Mojo Coach, while Sara Collins, an ethical production consultant, will share her top tips for ethical sourcing.

Pure London’s February programme will also feature regular daily catwalk shows, trend presentations by trend forecasting agency partner Promostyl, and additional keynote speakers to be announced in the coming weeks.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome such inspirational expert guests to Pure London.” Gloria Sandrucci, event director at Pure London, said in a statement.

She continued: “In today’s challenging retail environment, we want to encourage conversations about building business and utilising modern technology and since launching our Power of One initiative in 2018 we have committed to supporting the journey of our brands and retailers towards sustainability.”