Pure London mourns the passing of one of its founders Louise Young

Colleagues and industry figures have paid tribute to Louise Young, one of the founders of the Pure London fashion trade show, who has passed away.

Known to her friends and colleagues as Lou, she was part of the team that established the flagship fashion trade show which first took place in 1997. The show originally owned by Emap and is now part of the Hyve Group, which announced the news "with a heavy heart".

Hyve CEO Mark Shashoua said: “Louise was a remarkable woman who I had the pleasure of working alongside for a number of years. Her inspiring leadership, the championing of UK retail and her refreshingly unique style are what made her a truly standout leader.”

She was described as a "cherished" former member of the Pure team and was instrumental in the success of not only Pure but also the Spring and Autumn Fair shows during her 25-year career in the industry.

In 2018, Louise passed the Pure baton to Julie Driscoll, now Hyve's Executive Vice President, who acknowledged her enormous legacy. "The shows, the customers and all of us owe you a huge thank you. We mourn your loss, but we will commit to burn brightly every day for you, lovely Lou," Driscoll said.

Mark Shashoua added: "I think I speak on behalf of everyone at Hyve and our customers throughout the retail sector, that we are so saddened at losing Louise so soon. Having worked closely with Louise, I can attest to the joy she brought to the workplace. Her leadership qualities and commercial acumen earned her the respect of many within the industry. On behalf of the whole Hyve team, I want to express my deep respect and admiration for Louise and sadness and support for her husband, James."

Former colleagues commented on the news on Linked-in, including Steve Newbold, a former managing director of Pure and now group managing director at publisher Xeim. "This is such incredibly sad news and if I’m honest I’m still trying to absorb it all. Louise was central to everything when I worked with her at Emap Fashion/Retail and was a truly brilliant, successful and inspirational leader. Above all though she was the most lovely of people. She was smart, creative, kind, fun and supportive to everyone who knew her. We had such good times working together and remained good friends. I will miss her terribly and my heart goes out to James and Louise’s family and friends."

Eric Musgrave, who as a former editor of Drapers, worked with Louise at Emap said: "I met Lou when I joined Emap’s fashion division in 1996, which at the time included trade magazines and, increasingly in the late 1990s, trade shows such as 40˚ and Pure.

"We were colleagues for many years and friends for even more. Teetering around in her crazily high heels and forever twiddling her blonde hair, Scots-born Louise fully embraced the Emap policy of working hard and playing hard. She was a very popular boss and colleague.

"After we had stopped working together and Emap had sold up, Lou took on more responsibility with the show’s subsequent owners Ascential and then Hyve. The Spring and Autumn Fairs, GLEE and jewellery shows were among the events that benefited from her smart guidance and professionalism."