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Just Around The Corner celebrates successful show at London's Truman Brewery

Camilla Rydzek
11 February 2022

Trade show Just Around the Corner (JATC) returned to London's Boiler House in Truman Brewery on 8 -10 February, showcasing over 120 brands across womenswear and menswear. 

After a successful inaugural edition of the JATC show in Manchester last month, the London edition saw new brands joining the line-up including Superdry, Fransa, Guess, Kendall and Kylie, Luke 1977, Alpha Industries, Numph, Remus Uomo and Saint James.

The show saw over 600 visitors on the first day and 450 on the second. With all COVID-19 restrictions now lifted in England, attendees and exhibitors were free to choose whether to wear masks and keep a distance, but most people were happy to welcome back a sense of normality, with exhibitors sharing their impression that buyers were happy to be back in-person and able to touch and feel the new collections.

Juls Dawson, Managing Director and owner of sales agency Just Consultancies and JATC, said the show's first day was "mental", with buyers from the likes of ASOS, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Stitch Fix, Office, Debenhams, River Island, Urban Outfitters and Sole Trader attending. The second day was a bit quieter and with a more "steady" stream of attendees. "People are ready to engage, they are out and interacting, the desire to do face to face between buyers is back with a vengeance. There is lots of order writing going on and a lot of new relationships being built." said Dawson.

He added that JATC's Manchester show went off  with a "really good start" and had a "halo effect" on the London show, with a lot of stands being sold in the weeks following the Manchester show. All stands sold out two weeks prior to the London show starting.

"There was lots of interest in Manchester, particularly from brands who show in London, because there is this unique opportunity for brands who have showrooms in London but not in Manchester. And many retailers in the North don‘t necessarily want to travel to London, especially during COVID" added Dawson.

On the second day of the show exhibitors and attendees seemed confident and engaged, with the products on show being a mix of formal styles and more relaxed pieces, such as loungewear being a particular focus for the Religion Clothing brand.

JATC accessories

Daniel Gray, Global Sales Director at Powerplay brands, an underwear specialist from Manchester said: "It's been good. Yesterday morning was very quiet and then from 12 o'clock it started filling up, and we had some key accounts on board. Today it's been pretty similar, quiet until 11am and then it's been busier. It's good to meet new retailers but it's also good to meet new contacts, distributors, agents - overall I think it's been positive." The global business has been trading for about 30 years with its main product lines being underwear, loungewear, nightwear, swimwear and socks.

"We've got all exclusive licences here for Europe," Gray said pointing across his stall. "Reebok is our biggest brand, at the moment we're showcasing Ben Sherman and DKNY, Pepe Jeans London as well. We're also trying to bring on new brands this year as well." He noted that overall men's underwear and loungewear from DKNY had been popular and attendees had been interested in the Ben Sherman range.

He added that in terms of COVID-19 restrictions, he was a bit surprised that people were so easy going. "It feels like we're back to two years ago, I mean, there's still people wearing masks here and there, but I think generally it seems like people want to be out and about, they want to see new people and they want to have some face time. They're all a bit bored of Zoom and Teams, - that's the impression I got."

He added that, whilst COVID had impacted the business, Powerplay brands had been lucky because of its product ranges. "I think for us as a business we've been quite lucky because people have still been buying underwear socks and loungewear during the pandemic where it's only swimwear that we've taken a massive hit. Hopefully people will travel more this year and it will pick back up but everything else has been great. We've had a record year for our business, as I said we were quite lucky with the categories that we've had. We knew that fashion would take a hit in terms of dresses and formal wear, but we couldn't get enough loungewear. We sold out in the first months of the pandemic and we ordered a load more in and it sold out again. So we've been lucky with the categories that we've got. We actually had a record year during the first year of the pandemic and this year we'll also have a record year and now we're scale it up and trying to bring in more a few more brands and open up distribution a lot more into Europe but we're in a really good place."

On the other hand he said that Brexit had been "horrendous" as 40% of the businesses' turnover was down in Europe. He added: "A week before it really happened, we watched the news with Boris Johnson saying we had a deal to trade with Europe. However, it wasn’t clear that it was for products manufactured outside of Europe. It was difficult. But we were lucky because we opened a Dutch company and an EU warehouse the year before, so we were well prepared. It’s been crazy because, if we were to deliver to France or Italy from the UK, the customer becomes the importer, and they’ve got to pay duty which I think is 12% on the wholesale price."

In the womenswear section, Tanya Boyten, Founder of the Auburn Collective Fashion and Lifestyle Agency had a small break in-between appointments with buyers. She said that JATC had so far been a "really nice buzzy show" and that she was excited to launch a new product into the UK. Commenting on the show she said: "It's been really good actually, we've had a lot of interest in Noa Noa, it has actually been out of the UK since 2018 so it's really nice to come back in and re-launch the brand for AW22 with a really strong collection. I'm also introducing this really cool trainer brand from Italy, so that's a very exciting thing to happen because it's a completely unknown brand in the UK, whereas Noa Noa has had this heritage for years."

One section of the JATC, located to the left of the entrance was entirely dedicated to sustainably-minded brands, showcasing brands including Superdry Organic and fair trade brand PeopleTree.

JATC Outerknown

Leslie Johnston, UK Sales Manager of sustainable brand Outerknown commented: "It's been good I've had some customers come in to see the collection and they loved it which I think it's all about. I think for the UK markets it's about having the buyers coming in and feel the product because they've never had the opportunity before. They've placed orders but they have had wait until delivery hits to really feel it. It's alright telling buyers about the product and saying over Skype oh it feels beautiful, but until you get it in your hand it's not the same."

She explained that before she joined Outernknown she spent 20 years with Barbour but was approached by the brand to head its UK sales. She added that the brand had been trading in the UK for about three years and was stocked in Mr. Porter and launching in John Lewis in a few months. "The brand is fully founded on a sustainability model, from where the product is sourced to the accreditation. There has been such more awareness than before about sustainability, I think people are more conscious about what they're buying. People are certainly coming in and when they see the sustainable area I do feel like they are coming this way. Everyone is taking it much more seriously now which is a good thing of course."

Juls Dawson concluded that next season JATC would launch with new areas and focus on lifting the profile of its menswear offering and add more menswear brands to the line-up.

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