Show review: Scoop buzzes with positivity as exhibitors “very happy”

The latest edition of Scoop at London’s Olympia West – running from 11-13 February – has been ticking all the right boxes with exhibitors and buyers alike, with positivity in the air at a truly buzzing show.

Karen Radley, managing director and founder at Scoop, said: “The response from exhibitors has been quite overwhelming. They have been delighted with the quality of the buyers and the business they have done at Scoop, and buyers have echoed this enthusiasm.

“Everyone that has walked through the doors has also commented on the theme of the show, the opulence and glamour and the special environment we have created.

“Designers and buyers return to Scoop season after season because of the edit of designers and the special atmosphere we create.  It’s more of a showroom than a trade show, and the theme and calibre of collections creates the perfect environment to make buying enjoyable.”

Here’s what some of the key exhibitors had to say yesterday, 12 February, on day two of the show.

Ian Campbell-Smith, Palladio Associates

Ian Campbell-Smith, Joint Owner, Palladio Associates, showing Nemónic, Louise Misha and Brodie Cashmere

We had a really good day one at the show, and day two has also been busy. We were expecting it be quite a difficult season, but so far it’s been wholeheartedly positive here. We’ve seen new customers, which is the real point about doing trade shows, and certainly the new brands that we’ve brought along - that don’t have existing business in the UK - have been received really well. Nemónic is a new one for us and for the UK – a shoe brand from Spain. We’re focusing on the brand’s various types of western boots, which we see as a growing trend. The footwear is all handmade in Spain and really beautiful quality, with retail prices around £135.

We’ve also had a great pick up with Brodie Cashmere, which is a British supplier with a focus on great knitwear pieces. Buyers have particularly liked all the colour on offer. All the intarsia knits have been selling well. We’ve also brought a brand called Louise Misha from Paris to the UK to offer a point of difference. It’s actually our second season showing it. It’s a bohemian, feminine brand with a touch of vintage-inspired design. The AW24 collection we have here has been really well received, as echoing the reaction to SS24 when it was picked up by some of the best independent boutiques in the country. It’s just going from strength to strength and we’re feeling very buoyant about the brand.

In terms of the mood out there among retailers it’s a real mix. Some of them had a challenging autumn/winter season, but other people have been more or less the same, or even up on last year. You also have to remember that the previous year, post-Covid, was like a bumper year, so to maintain those figures means they’ve had a good year. Retailers in city centres seem to have been having a more challenging time, but stores in market towns – where we have a lot of our customers, are doing relatively well. It’s really strange, there’s no rhyme or reason as to who is doing well and who’s not. There’s no real pattern to it.

Natalie Millard, Self Service

Natalie Millard, Commercial Director, Self Service, showing Barefoot Dreams

Self Service is predominantly a distribution company and we focus on brands from America and Australia. Barefoot Dreams is from Malibu, California, and was originally inspired by beach life – creating blankets and cozy products more for coming off the beach. We’re launching it in the UK here at the show. The CozyChic fabric is patented and in comes in varying weights, such as CozyChic Lite. It’s like a towelling and it is super soft. Key product areas include travel, loungewear, sleepwear – including robes and slippers - for women, men and kids, as well as homeware such as cushions. It has a huge following in the US and Oprah Winfrey had it as her number one present six years in a row. Justin Bieber is also a fan – he has the travel blanket, which is like a shawl that you wrap around yourself to keep cozy on your travels.

Our background is more on the fashion side, particularly womenswear, but this offers something different – especially with more people working from home and wanting to be comfortable. That whole home, travel and unisex pieces are just becoming more important in people’s lives. The collection has been received amazingly at the show. We’ve seen a lot of great buyers, including key majors such as Galeries Lafayette from Paris and some fantastic independent boutiques. We couldn’t be happier with how the show has gone.

The economy is tough, which is rotten luck after the pandemic, but I’m seeing green shoots out there. People want that personal touch these days. They want to build up partnerships and relationships with the right brands offering the right products, as that transcends to the end customer.

Julie Osborn, Oldstrom Agency

Julie Osborn, Sales and Showroom Manager, Oldstrom Agency, showing Bitte Kai Rand and Sand Copenhagen

We were super busy on day one – right from when the show opened. We had a really nice breakfast morning with Prosecco and some pastries which was very popular. I don’t think I actually sat down until about 4pm on day one, it was constant. In fact, we’ve had a really good couple of days and we’ve seen a lot of independents, including quite a lot of our Irish accounts, which is great that they’ve made the trip.

We’re based in Shoreditch in East London and we represent 18 brands in total and six at the show. Bitte Kai Rand and Sand Copenhagen are our two Danish brands here which I’ve been focusing on. Bitte Kai Rand is a 44 year-old brand, and Sand is 47 years-old, so they have been well established for a long time and were probably two of the first Danish brands to make an impact in the UK market. The two brands couldn’t really be more different. Bitte Kai Rand has a bit of Japanese twist to it, as they do a lot of kimono style pieces, lightweight down and quilted fabrics, and some beautiful abstract prints. It’s more casual day wear, but with a unique fashion edge which has a very recognisable handwriting. It’s not something you will see in the general high street.

We’ve brought Sand to the show a few times before. It’s predominantly an autumn/winter focused brand, so I think that’s why it has done particularly well this season. It’s very focused on beautiful tailoring and outerwear and they use a lot of Italian fabrics. It’s much more classic. Bitte Kai Rand offers four collections a year, so this one here is more of a transitional collection of lighter weight products for July/August delivery, then there will be a later one of heavier pieces that we will have at the showroom.

The mood from buyers has been positive, much more than we thought it was going to be. The autumn/winter season started off quite well for many, but it’s been such mild weather that people have been holding back on buying anything new. Outerwear has been tricky for the season, but I think retailers came out of it more positively than they thought they would. Also, the new product that’s gone in to stores for SS24 seems to be having good sell-throughs already, again probably because of the mild weather.

Adriana Perez-Sala, Dr Bloom

Adriana Pérez-Sala, Chief Operating Officer, Dr Bloom

This is our first time showing at Scoop and it’s a UK launch for Dr Bloom. It’s been really good for us, so we are very happy as we’ve been seeing plenty of buyers and the reaction has been strong. We expect good things in the UK. The brand was started in 2015 in Spain and it’s only been in the last three years that we have started selling outside of Spain – firstly in France and then the US.

Our passion is colour with a real focus on knitwear, though it is a full collection including our new fluorescent polka dot shirts which have been well received at the show. The zig zag pattern knits are also proving popular, as are the floral designs. We have a real point of difference which is important in the market as there is no point trying to compete with the big brands out there.

All of our products are made in Europe, mainly in Spain and Italy. For us, that’s a really important thing as well. A lot of our knitwear, such as the V-neck tank top I’m wearing, mixes fabrics such as acrylic, polyamide and alpaca wool, and our shirts are 100% cotton.