Spring Fair show report: The word from the aisles in the fashion hall

Hall 2 was buzzing with buyers writing orders and exploring the expanded fashion offer at Spring Fair on day two, 2 February. As a result, those exhibiting were largely feeling positive, with the woes of the damning Autumn Budget and the effects it had on trade behind them. TheIndustry.fashion took to the aisles to gauge the mood from exhibitors showing their latest collections.

Sanjeev Bhatia, Director, Terminal 1

The show has been very positive – this is our second day and we’ve not stopped. It’s been really good to reconnect with all the customers from further afield, as we’re based in Manchester so it’s sometimes hard to connect with customers down south in places like Devon and also further up north. Buyers do travel here as it’s quite central and easy to access travel-wise.

We’ve been showing here since 2014, whether that be Spring Fair, Autumn Fair or the old Moda show, and it’s usually been good. This time I’d say we’ve seen more buyers than we expected.

It’s fair to say that 2025 was tough, particularly with the new government coming in, taxes going up, and people generally feeling more wary. Also, Black Friday is tough to deal with for independents, but once that was out of the way things picked up in December, and now everyone seems positive about this year moving forward. They’ve also really liked our latest collection.

We’ve taken on some new accounts, which is very pleasing. Expanding the fashion offer at Spring Fair has potentially drawn more buyers here. Our location, near the entrance in Hall 2, has played a part too – our colours are quite striking which draws people in. We’re also next to other good brands, which helps to bring more buyers on to the stand.

Our customer demographic is very wide, it can go from a young woman of 25 up to 75. Our retail prices are also appealing, starting at £35. We specialise in fluffy knitwear and bright colours, selling in-season – so what you see is all for now.

Nim Johal, Sales Executive, Saige by Nomads

The show has had decent footfall and we’ve had a good reaction to the Saige by Nomads collection. We just wanted to get the brand out there and we’ve had a lot of people come on to the stand to take a look at it for the first time, and place orders too. Nomads is our more established brand that has been going over 30 years, which we are also showing here, but Saige by Nomads is our newer and more trend-led line – though still targeting women who are in the 30s and upwards. We introduced it at the last Autumn Fair with just 30 pieces. After a good reaction, we decided to grow the range. We now have 110 options for SS26.

We’ve done some nice statement ‘hero’ pieces which would work for a summer wedding, and there’s also more easy day wear such as our multi-stripe wrap dress, a striped maxi dress, blouses, tops and a small selection of knitwear. We also have a great new denim offer, such as wide leg jeans and a matching tie-front collarless denim jacket. Co-ords are really key at the moment, and we also have some great quality broderie anglaise options. Wholesale prices across the range go from £16 to £32, so it’s very accessible for the quality.

We’re aiming to get it out there to everyone - just because you’re in your 40s or 50s doesn’t mean you don’t want to look good. Marks & Spencer are on the cusp of it right now – trying to bring some more trend-led items in for women of all ages. We’re just trying to cover that market too because I don’t think anyone else here is offering trend-led, sized, in-season products like this.

Amrit Heer, co-founder, Wherk

Wherk has been established exactly one year. The name blends ‘work’ with ‘her’ and, as the name suggests, we specialise in women’s workwear. From a personal perspective, myself and my partner found there was a gap in the market, as I have a corporate job at Jaguar Land Rover and she’s a barrister. I think that after Covid workwear changed a lot, and we’re trying to reintroduce mainly black workwear with a tailoring focus. While our main focus is on black workwear, you can also dress down the blazers and wear them more casually. When a style does well, we will then introduce it in another colour as we have with certain jackets - in burgundy and brown. We have jacket and trouser or skirt suit options, as well as dresses, and everything is interchangeable.

This is our first time at the show. We’ve mainly been direct-to-consumer via our website and also pop-up events with companies such as CBRE and No5 Barristers' Chambers – really targeting who we think is our end customer. But we really want to get into some independent boutiques on board and it’s been great meeting some from all over the country here. It’s a new touch point for us to be in front of potential new retail customers. From speaking to buyers, a lot of them coming here to find new product and discover new brands, and I think we’re very different to a lot of brands here.

I also think that professional women are dressing up again now, and retailers may have customers who have corporate roles, but nothing to really offer them. We can fit that gap. Some of our suits retail for under £200, with blazers ranging from £119 to £129. Now people are getting back more into offices, while they may not want to wear a full suit, a blazer or smart trousers can elevate their look. One of our most popular pieces is our belted peak lapel blazer. We know that some women like to have that bit of a cinch at the waist, and our double-buckle croc-effect belt works well for that. It’s also a piece that can be dressed down with leather trousers, a skirt or jeans.

Zain Memon, Managing Director, Mudflower

Mudflower has been established for around 15 years now, from when I first came into the family business specialising in wholesale. There was a big gap in the market between young fashion and classic women’s fashion. The in-between sector wasn’t really being looked after, basically making classic a bit more fashionable. A lot of brands have since come on board doing the same thing, but I think our ethos is different in that we’ve always made it affordable. There are brands out there that maybe charge £80 to £150 for a knitted jumper, but ours still cost around £40 to £50 at retail. It’s almost like going into a high street store, but you’re getting a branded product.

In terms of retailers, our biggest customers are garden centres, multiples and independent boutiques. The brand coincidentally started as Mudflower and made its way into garden centres very early on. In fact, my very first proper customer was a buyer from a garden centre and, at that point, they weren’t doing much clothing. Aside from selling wellies and the odd fleece or outerwear piece, fashion was very new to them. I sold them a lot of product and within a week they were asking me for more stock! At first, I wondered how that was possible, but then it clicked that they have the foot flow, the car parking spaces and the target audience – it was all tick, tick, tick.

Our company started off as a knitwear supplier, which we still are – and we do still supply other brands too. We are still known for our sweaters, but over the years with the Mudflower brand we’ve gone more into multiple products, including T-shirts, shirts, skirts and dresses. We do a lot of embellishment details, embroidered items and plenty of colour, always trying to offer something that’s a little bit different to what’s on the high street.

We were doing Moda for many years and have continued with Spring/Autumn Fair since they took it over. The show was steady on Sunday, perhaps not as busy as last year, but today [Monday] has been a better day with a steady flow of customers coming through – and better buyers.

James Smith, General Manager, Merry People

Merry People was established in Victoria, Australia, in 2014 and we’re going into our fifth season now in the UK. We haven’t shown at Spring Fair for two years, but it’s been good to be back and to catch up with everyone again. We’re really growing the business in the UK and as we don’t have a physical presence it’s important we’re here to speak to buyers face to face – which you can’t beat.

Our product is based around the everyday wellington/Chelsea boot, but with more of a modern and fashionable twist. They are 100% waterproof and we have three styles, the original ‘Bobbi’ boot in 12 colours, the chunkier sole ‘Tully’ and the brand new ‘Oberon’ style which has a wider fit with a more square-shaped toe, leaning into more of a male audience which we’re starting to tap into. We’re also currently working on a collaboration product, though we can’t say with what brand just yet.

The show has been great and today has been very busy. There’s been a few independents, a few people coming up from London, and a mix of coastal and lifestyle retailers. There’s been a lot of buyers from the south west of England, including from garden centres and homeware retailers. We find the product goes really well with anything ‘country lifestyle’ because it’s got a functional purpose.

Our target customer is predominantly female, aged 35-55, and someone who loves colour and probably has a dog! She just wants a practical good-looking boot for the outdoors. We now supply around 60-70 stores across the UK, and then we have our website too which is performing strongly. Recently, we’ve been doing well in places like the Cotswolds and the Bristol area.

We’re currently supplying Oliver Bonas and they’ve been phenomenal partners. We’re going to be growing further with them - going into some of their bigger doors. We’d also like to work with some of the more upmarket garden centres that have multi-doors.

We’re really excited for 2026, especially in the UK, which is our fastest growing market. In Australia, Merry People is now a household brand, but half the business is now global. We started in the UK three years ago and it’s now 30% of our business. I spoke to a guy last night who said that a pair of our boots was the only present he’s ever bought his wife that she didn’t return!

Louise Hammond, Wholesale Manager, Fable England

We’re quite a unique brand specialising in enamel jewellery with a focus on ‘flora and fauna’ designs. We’re very British heritage and countryside inspired. All our collections start with prints for scarves and then the jewellery and bags develop from there. We have an amazing team of designers, including embroidery designers, and the products are very story-led. We have three stories per season, and we also have our classics collection which is what Fable is known for, such as tote bags and circle bags. Our best-selling collections include our designs featuring butterflies, foxes, robins and blue tits.

The brand started in 2018, so we’re still relatively new. We’re based in Camden, London and we work with some small factories in China. We have a large amount of very different types of accounts, including a lot of independent stores as well as the RHS and the V&A. We do well with sales to tourists, Americans in particular love our brand.

We have a Peter Rabbit license collectionm which we started last year with 16 items. It’s now grown with additional products including a silk scarf and a handbag, adding to the expanded enamel jewellery offer. We sell in the Beatrix Potter Museum in the Lake District.

The show has been good so far, especially today [Monday], which has been non-stop since 9.30am. We’ve seen a real mix of people and taken some decent orders, as well as had some good leads to follow up. We’ve seen existing buyers, such as from the V&A, today, and we’ve had buyers from the Birmingham Botanical Gardens come on too. All in all, we’re pleased with how it’s going.