Unlike the England men’s football team or British players at Wimbledon, the INDX Man trade show can be relied upon to consistently provide a satisfactory result. This week’s event in Solihull was no different.
The three-day, Sunday-to-Tuesday meeting of around 140 mainstream menswear exhibitors and more than 800 independent store buyers underlined the ongoing resilience of the indie menswear sector, which for the most part has endured an underwhelming spring-summer 24 season sadly lacking in any feelgood factor.
After a noticeably quieter-than-normal first day on Sunday, when the men’s final at SW19 and Spain v England proved to be strong distractions, Monday bounced back in fine form at the event, which is one of 18 INDX shows held by the AIS buying group at its Cranmore Park exhibition venue near Birmingham.
On the Guards London stand, director Amanda Hinton and agent Keith Brown, who says many indies are doing well
“It’s been a stop-start season for most independents, but they are mainly in good spirits,” said Keith Brown, who was representing outerwear specialist Guards London and John White footwear at the show. “We haven’t had a summer but a lot of independents are still doing well.”
William Coe of Coes of East Anglia maintains erratic trading is now the norm
William Coe, managing director of the Coes mini-chain in East Anglia, described the current season as “challenging” but insisted the present conditions were here to stay and had to be dealt with accordingly: “We have seen no consistency and that’s been the hardest thing to manage. We have had fantastic days and weeks and terrible days and weeks, with sell-throughs going up and down. It’s been very difficult to analyse trends, but the entire world is more unstable and unpredictable. As retailers we’d like to see more confidence and stability, but going forward we have to be agile and adapt.”
John Lambert of County Clothes has been left with an awful lot of summer stock
Other retailers at INDX Man reported trying new strategies to engage consumers. John Lambert, owner of the eight-strong County Clothes business in Kent and Sussex, is holding a Sale for the first time this season to attempt to clear a backlog of mainly smart casualwear.
“We have not held an in-season Sale before but the season has been disappointing and we’ve been left with an awful lot of summer stock. It will just be a four-week event , starting at 30% off, and I’m confident we will come out with pretty clean stocks,” he said.
In his Sevenoaks branch, which trades as Suits You Sir, Lambert is to switch emphasis from footwear to tailoring, aiming at the buoyant special occasion category, starting with the school prom market and running through weddings, races and so on.
Charles Grey, a new exhibitor this season at INDX Man, which has three-piece suits retailing at £229, is among the suppliers Lambert is using for his new initiative.
Special occasion tailoring is a lively area for Tony and Jessica Harvey of Suave Owl in Bath and Winchester
Also doing well in the same area are Tony and Jessica Harvey, owners of the Suave Owl shops in Bath and Winchester. “While our aim is to do more own-label casualwear, in the past six months we have been doing well with suit hire, using Marc Darcy and Cavani (both INDX Man exhibitors) as suppliers,” Jessica explains. “We also do a trade-in scheme on tailoring and our rail of second-hand suits is doing well.”
Nikki and Jon Hancock of Hancock in Grimsby believe customers enjoy the personal service and depth of stock in an indie
Also riding the dressing-up wave are Grimsby-based Jon and Nikki Hancock, who recently closed their women’s bridalwear business and moved to larger premises to concentrate solely on the menswear side, stocking affordable lines from INDX Man exhibitors Marc Darcy and Skopes.
“We’ve had our best year in 20 years of trading,” Jon reported. “We obviously benefit from there being fewer independents but I get a sense that people are grateful that we give a better service, more sizes, in-store alterations… It’s a better experience than going to Next. We are attracting a wide range of customers from the prom lads to a 90-year-old who wanted a new suit.”
Tony Links from Slater Menswear: “This is a well-presented show”
Despite the ongoing difficulties in the menswear market, INDX Man continued to provide an efficient forum and, for most visitors, a writing show. Tony Links, director of Glasgow-based Slater Menswear, applauded the relevant mix the INDX team brings together.
“As always, it’s a very well-presented show,” he said. “I have placed orders with two suppliers but I am mainly here to see about nine companies that have contacted us. This is a very efficient way to meet them face to face and look at what they’ve got to offer. It’s a shame some retailers don’t make the effort to be here.”
Marc Querol Pio, owner of the Double H Agency, was showing Portuguese footwear brand Ambitious for the first time
As usual, the show attracted a handful of new exhibitors, such as British brand Oliver Sweeney and Portuguese footwear brand Ambitious, which was on the Double H agency stand. Both reported useful contacts with potential new accounts.
Bestseller Group returned to INDX Man after a five-year absence with three brands
Among the exhibitors making a return was the Danish Bestseller group, which had Selected Homme, Only & Sons and Jack & Jones at the event for the first time since before the Covid lockdown.
Bestseller is an active partner with the AIS buying group but as non-AIS members are welcome at the INDX events, the brands reported meeting new leads at the show. “Sunday was a bit quiet but from the first minute on Monday we’ve been seeing customers. It’s good to feel the buzz here,” commented Only & Sons key account manager Thomas Ellard.
Attendance for the show topped 900 buyers, including representatives from Jarrold in Norwich, Austins of Newton Abbot, Bakers & Larners of Holt, Walters of Oxford, House of Bruar, Elphicks of Farnham, Ulster Stores, S D Kells from Northern Ireland and McElhinneys from the Irish Republic. New attendees included Noble Menswear in Doncaster and Berties Suits in Jersey.
As always, visitors complimented the organisers on the high standard of the exhibitor mix, while exhibitors themselves confirmed that buyers were looking for strong “statement” pieces, not playing safe with basics.
Kamal Patel and Simon Parr at Gabicci are seeing demand for bright colours
At Gabicci, where the British brand has re-created genuine 1970s acetate styles in modern poly-viscose yarns, director Kamla Patel confirmed stockists were, literally, in a bright mood: “Our top-seller this season is in a sunshine yellow. Bold colours look better on our stockists’ social media feeds.”
Retailers will be hoping for brighter days ahead in more ways than one.
In 2025 INDX Man will be held on Sunday-Tuesday, 2-4 February and 13-15 July.
Images: Eric Musgrave
