I

N

D

U

S

T

Y

F

E

A

T

U

R

E

Fashion Trade Events

There are a number of ways to promote and market a new label and collection to potential retail buyers. Websites, online marketing, fashion agents, PR agencies, fashion shows and trade shows. For the designer who has the funds, all or some of the above marketing outlets can be consolidated to make sure a collection is publicised to as wide an audience as possible.

For the designer who is producing and presenting their first collection, funds are at a premium and so therefore focusing on the best tools for promoting that collection is important.

For new designers whose collections are also competing against established labels, getting recognised is usually a hard slog. Getting orders is only less harder.

Trade shows have the potential for a new label to reach a wide audience of potential buyers as possible. Contrary to fashion belief, a designer doesn't have to be a veteran of the fashion industry to be able to present their labels at a trade event. It does depends on the type of trade show chosen to promote the label and collection. All trade shows will have eligibility criteria for potential exhibitors and some eligibility criteria will deter some very new labels from the outset on the grounds of cost and the profile of the label. Some trade show event managers will have an exclusive attitude, vetting the 'caliber' of exhibitors, requiring information on whether a label is stocked (the usual egg or chicken scenario), how many outlets a label is stocked in and whether there is a 'buzz' about the label and how the label will sit with with the other exhibitors.

The cost of exhibiting at a trade show ranges from a few hundred pounds to thousands with the number of packages available graded by price. Weighing up the potential costs against the potential for making important sales and raising profile is one way to make a decision whether to exhibit or not.

Matching a trade show to the the life stage of the label is one of the ways to choose a first appropriate trade show. For the first three years exhibiting at trade shows which are geared to promote new labels can start to build pay offs. Events such as Profile, The Alternative Fashion Show, OnOff are all designed for new labels to make contacts and potential sales. If a trade show works, it's fine to start to building a strategy around exhibiting at a trade show and each time evaluating the response to the range presented. As a label moves towards becoming more well known then the type of trade show shown to exhibit at should also change.

Getting information on the outcomes for other designers who have exhibited at various shows is one way to assess whether a particular trade show will be suitable for a label and vice-versa. What has happened to previous exhibitors? Have they achieved increased orders? Increased the number of stockists of their label? How have they built on their successes?

One last point: collate as many contacts as possible from trade shows to start-up and then add to a mailing list. Although contacts may not initially buy at the first or even second meeting they may become future buyers, so keeping a contact list updated about your label and subsequent new collections is one kind of promotion tool.

Information on funding is from regional business support organisations such Business Link, local authorities and the DTI.

FashionFinders Team