Clothes Show struts into Liverpool - but not quite as we know it

IT'S The Clothes Show, kinda…

Visitors can also expect a jam-packed programme of vibrant nightlife, entertainment and music into the early hours across the city

“New City. New Show. New Dates. New Experience,” they say. And with a new name and a new format, some cynics might say it's a bit like calling Wings The Beatles.

But never mind all that - as provincial fashion shows go, this one promises class. 

Expect frocks, cameras, catwalks, music, arts and culture on a "scale never before seen in Europe" when British Style Collective “presented by The Clothes Show” struts into Liverpool next July.

After 27 years, and annual visitor numbers of 100,000 the brand made famous by a BBC teatime show is flouncing out of Birmingham’s NEC for good this December. 

Organisers Haymarket Media Group promise that the Mersey made-over event will form an integral part of the UK’s summer festival calendar, taking place over three days and a number of venues including the arena, the Camp and Furnace, St George's Hall and the Anglican Cathedral. 

Why Liverpool? Why now?

Who knows, but didn't the late Isabella Blow, stiletto heel fanatic and fashion director at Tatler, once declare Liverpool the UK "capital of couture"? Yes ma'am, we were there.

Liverpool blogger Abigail, from Blush Noise, celebrates the launch of British Style Collective

British Style Collective, they say, "will allow visitors access to a multitude of glamorous catwalk shows, shopping from over 250 fashion and beauty brands, a dedicated seat in the Echo Arena for a fashion-meets-music theatre performance, food and drink pop-ups, plus access to a timetable packed with educational seminars, designer trend presentations, beauty demonstrations, celebrity and influencer meet and greets, and exclusive interviews."

If that wasn't exhausting enough... "Visitors can also expect a jam-packed programme of vibrant nightlife, entertainment and music into the early hours across the city".

Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, who knows as much about these things as anyone else, said: “The Clothes Show has long been the leading fashion exhibition in the country. It is testament to the reputation of this city and its credibility when it comes to staging major events that Haymarket has chosen to make Liverpool the home to one of their flagship brands. We have world class venues, a track record of entertainment and a city full of people who live and breathe fashion.

"It really is a perfect fit.” Boom.

Thirty years ago, The Clothes Show was a Sunday teatime TV show, but its success turned it into a live brand in 1989, launching the careers of unknowns such as  Erin O’Connor, Oliver Cheshire, Sam Rollinson and Rosie Tapner. It is also responsible for Vernon Kay who was discovered while wandering the halls of The Clothes Show.

It is the largest footfall event of its kind and the leading fashion and beauty event in Europe. 

But like the highly successful Fusion Festival, which also made its name in Brum, it has eschewed the charms of Spaghetti Junction for the pool of life. 

Maryam Hamizadeh, director of exhibitions at Haymarket, said: "We are thrilled to be working with Liverpool City Council to enable us to curate the new, vibrant content and format that will be current, fresh and dynamic. 

"As a city that celebrates and embraces culture and arts, Liverpool not only supports fashion and diversity but encourages it, making the city the perfect destination to launch the British Style Collective. 

"We will maintain The Clothes Show brand heritage and authority as the market leading consumer fashion and beauty exhibition, but refreshed to represent a new era and visitor experience within such a rich cultural city.” 

*British Style Collective, Liverpool, July 5-7, 2017. For more information see here.