Stylist Live to hit Intu in Manchester, add to mall's experiential appeal

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 19, 2018

Stylist magazine and shopping malls giant Intu have announced that the large-scale consumer fashion and beauty event, Stylist Live, will take place outside London for the first time at Intu Trafford Centre in Manchester in September.

Publisher Shortlist Media said that it had seen demand from outside the UK's capital but will continue to run London events with the next one due to happen in November.

The Manchester event meanwhile, taking place on September 8 and 9, is expected to generate strong interest from shoppers across the northwest of the country with the companies predicting “hundreds of thousands” of visitors.

And the Intu link is about more than just a suitable venue as the event will include a line-up of catwalk shows featuring fashion trends from Intu’s retailers, alongside the usual sessions with influential speakers and “unique shopping experiences from an eclectic mix of pop-up boutiques.”

“Across the weekend, as many as 350,000 visitors to the centre will have the opportunity to engage with the Stylist brand in a live setting,” the partners said, “as the pages of the magazine are brought to life through partnerships with brands including Pandora, Gordon’s Gin, Pixi, Dermalogica and NAKD.”

The event forms part of Intu’s ongoing programme of “innovative and immersive experiences” for the more-than-half the UK’s population who visit one of its malls every year.

It's a good commercial move to expand regionally with the third London-based Stylist Live last year having seen 20,799 attendees, a 41.5% increase from last year at Olympia, so it's undeniable that such events are proving more popular.

Sophie Robinson, Chief Marketing Officer at Shortlist Media said: “We knew the appetite was there from consumers not based in London to experience our events. Shortly after last year’s event, we began discussions with partners who would work with us in taking this event to cities outside of London.”

Clearly, with fewer than 21,000 people visiting the London event and that having been deemed a success, the potential in linking up with Intu is massive. Stylist obviously wants to make the most of the continuous foot traffic that shopping centres see to boost visitor numbers many times over. Meanwhile Intu is aiming to offer more of the ‘experiences’ designed to attract shoppers who are increasingly shunning malls.

The event will be supported by a joint marketing campaign to promote and drive footfall to the show, including print, radio, online, out-of-home and social media pushes.