The Fashion Huddle works for buyers and for agents

Collaboration not competition is the theme of The Fashion Huddle, a gathering of 16 fashion agencies showing around 100 womenswear collections together, which is now in its third selling season.

Running across two venues in Hammersmith, west London from 22 January until 23 February, the pop-up event aims to make it easy for time-poor boutique buyers to place their order with existing suppliers, while hopefully introducing them to new names in a relaxed setting.

“This is not an exhibition,” stresses Lucy Walsh, owner of The Brand Ambassadors womenswear agency, who founded The Fashion Huddle and remains its main organiser. “It’s simply a coming together of fashion agents who were taking seasonal showrooms in lots of different venues around London. It makes sense for us, and more importantly for the buyers, to be in one place.”

The event has gained swift momentum since the first attempt 12 months ago. Walsh now has a waiting list of agencies wanting to join. This season she has placed some of the participants in a second venue close to the original one that gave the initiative its catchy name.

Lucy Walsh, Vanessa Green and Joanna Edwards at The Fashion Huddle

“We use an office building called The Huddle. It is run by Romulus, a shared working space company that usually wants tenant on long lets, but they have made an exception for us for our five-week stay. Because of the way we’ve grown, this season we are using a nearby second building, The Triangle, which is a short walk away.”

Walsh had the idea of formally joining forces with other agents in autumn 2022 when she realised that many buyers were not aware that she was showing in the same building as fellow agents Middleton Green Agency, Magpie, The Year of Agency and Richman Brands.

“We were on different floors,” recalls Walsh, “so while we knew we were in the same building, a lot of our buyers did not. Some were coming back to the building three or four times, which seemed like madness. I realised we needed some joint marketing to inform buyers how many agents were present. I reached out to another agent, Joanna Edwards, and it snowballed from there. We decided to put competition aside and all agreed to show together on the same open plan floor.

"We’d been using The Huddle for our temporary showroom for three or four years," says Vanessa Green, who with Julie Middleton runs the Middleton Green Agency. “It seemed to be sensible to join forces with Lucy as we sell to similar boutiques and it works really, really well. Buyers can come for the day and do lots of collections, or just pop in to do one. We have created a very relaxed atmosphere that buyers seem to appreciate.”

Charlotte Newman, owner of Kitch in Tunbridge Wells, is typical of the independent boutique owners The Fashion Huddle targets. She told the team last season: “What a lovely experience.! Great atmosphere, so calm and relaxed. Well done, guys, great initiative.”

Walsh adds: “We share our diaries and we all prefer buyers to make appointments so we can give them our full attention, but one of the benefits of having 16 of us together is a buyer can come in to see one or two agencies and then wander round to have a look what else is available without feeling the pressure of making an appointment.

“As a group, we agents are very good at introducing our customers to other agencies that might have something of interest. We are collaborating rather than competing because we know that as womenswear fashion agents we will thrive only if the independent boutique sector thrives.”

Inside The Fashion Huddle, which has been designed to complement the bigger trade shows

The Fashion Huddle is a response to changing conditions in the womenswear business. Few agencies (or indeed brands) can afford to run a central London showroom 52 weeks a year and the days of large buildings around the garment district of Margaret Street and Great Portland Street filled with agents are long gone. A pop-up gathering is a cost-effective and time-effective solution.

Joanna Edwards started her eponymous fashion agency while she was running a boutique in Tunbridge Wells. She has concentrated on the agency for the past 15 years or so: “I used to show alongside some other agents in the West End and while the central location is good, it has become so expensive. The Fashion Huddle in Hammersmith works well. Being a self-employed agent can be a lonely life, but there is a great camaraderie among us all and the buyers love it because they can get their eye in on trends for the season from so many collections.”

This season Edwards is taking 11 collections from a variety of countries, including Israel, Croatia, Finland, Spain, Denmark and France. Middleton Green is showing 12 names, all in the contemporary mid-premium sector, while Walsh has all 10 names she represents.

The presentation is simple and low-key, with most agents presenting their styles on movable rails.

Footwear and accessories are also on offer at The Fashion Huddle

“Some participants have as few as three collections, while a lot of us are into double figures,” Walsh explains. “As well as clothing, we have shoes and accessories, so there is a lot for buyers to go at in our shared space.”

The Fashion Huddle mainly operates 9am-6pm, Monday-Friday for its five-week schedule, but it is also open on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February, the latter being the first day of the Pure, Just Around The Corner and Scoop trade fairs at nearby Olympia.

The agents’ event is seen as a complement to the large shows, not a rival. Joanna Edwards and Vanessa Green are among The Fashion Huddle participants who are also showing some of their collections at Scoop or Pure in attempt to cover all selling possibilities.

“I think my directional Israeli brand Me369 will work well at Scoop and I wanted to support (show organiser) Karen Radley,” Edwards explains.

“This season we are showing our Berenice line at Scoop,” says Green, “but in the past we showed as many as seven collections at the show.”

Walsh set up her Brand Ambassadors agency eight years ago after almost two decades of working in the industry, first selling advertisements on Drapers magazine, then selling exhibition space at Pure. As a relative newcomer to the agency world, but one who was known to many existing agents, she was able to gain their trust quickly to create The Fashion Huddle.

Beyond the five weeks’ selling season twice a year, her networking skills have put together a self-help group for around 60 fashion agents, including ones working in menswear, kidswear, footwear as well as womenswear.

She has created an agents’ WhatsApp group through which they keep each other informed of relevant information, including retailers who are not paying their bills. “We have all been very good at sharing our stockist lists – something that agents wouldn’t have done traditionally – and now for our Fashion Huddle Instagram account we follow more than 1,100 boutiques that sell womenswear. One of the great unknowns of the fashion industry is just how many independent shops there still are, but we have made a good start.”

Full details on this season’s The Fashion Huddle are listed on its website. During its five-week run, Walsh expects it to attract around 500 independent womenswear buyers, including a strong showing from Ireland. Collaboration is paying off for competing agencies and for their target clients.

The Fashion Huddle, 3 Shortlands, Hammersmith, London W6 8DA & The Triangle, 5-17 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 0LG