TheIndustry.fashion held its second summit, Fashion [Un]Bound, bringing together leading figures from across fashion and retail for a day of networking, industry insights and strategic discussion. Held at The Forum in Leadenhall, London, the summit was hosted in partnership with logistics specialist Bleckmann, with sponsorship from StoryStream, Aptos and MarkMe.

Attendees included representatives from John Lewis, SKIMS, TFG Brands, Boden, Charles Tyrwhitt, Harrods, Mulberry, Levi Strauss & Co., Mint Velvet, Debenhams Group, Radley, Barbour, Reformation, Slaters, Primark and H&M. Speakers came from H&M, ALIGNE, Toast, Cubitts, Superdry, The Couture Club, Rise & Fall, Albaray, SOJO, The Handbag Clinic and Jigsaw, alongside retail commentator Mary Portas.

Session highlights

• Bleckmann: building a platform for success - In an audience poll, international and UK growth emerged as joint top strategic priorities for 2027, each with 40% of responses. Physical retail ranked as the leading priority channel, and attendees identified slow returns and refunds as the biggest customer complaints.
• Circular creativity: redefining the value of objects - Suzie de Rohan Willner, CEO of Toast, Kay Clark, Repair Specialist at Toast, and artist and designer Hannah Refaat discussed longevity in fashion. Toast offers free repairs to help customers extend the life of their clothing. “Our circular approach is absolutely critical to both us and our customers,” said de Rohan Willner.
• From niche to necessity: pre-loved and repair - Josephine Philips, founder and CEO of SOJO, said repair allows brands to fix damaged stock for less than 5% of RRP and sell it at full price. Charlotte Staerck, co-founder and CEO of The Handbag Clinic, said its buyback scheme, which issues Selfridges vouchers, has generated more than £3 million of revenue for the department store, with customers typically spending three times the voucher value on the same day.
• StoryStream: practical AI for e-commerce - Founder and CEO Alex Vaidya advised brands to build their data and content foundations before scaling AI investment. He said Primark’s use of StoryStream’s new AI shop-the-look tool has seen order value rise by more than 5%.
• Modern heritage: the evolution of Jigsaw - Managing Director Tikki Godley shared how Jigsaw is refocusing on its core strengths, attracting new and younger customers, and championing the high street. “It’s about making small, incremental changes that add up to something much bigger,” she said.
• Flipping the script: a new generation of disruptors - ALIGNE CEO Ginny Seymour, The Couture Club Owner and Managing Director Scott Shashua, and Rise & Fall co-founder Will Coulton discussed using wholesale for discovery rather than revenue. ALIGNE releases only 20 styles a month and is cautiously returning to wholesale, including with John Lewis and Anthropologie in the UK.
• Creativity and conscience: building new British brand icons - Cubitts CEO Tom Broughton shared how the brand has grown to 20 stores, 18 in the UK and two in New York City. Albaray’s Chief Commercial Officer Kirstie Di Stazio and Chief Creative Officer Karen Peacock discussed the brand’s digital-first DTC model alongside retail partners including John Lewis, NEXT and M&S.
• H&M: captivating a UK audience - Karen O’Rourke, Managing Director of H&M UK and Ireland, said physical stores remain at the core of the brand’s strategy, with nearly 200 stores across the region and 7,000 employees in the UK. She also discussed H&M’s return to London Fashion Week in September.
• Superdry: the reinvention of a British fashion powerhouse - Founder and CEO Julien Dunkerton outlined an ambition to reach £750 million in revenue within the next five years. He identified the renewed focus on womenswear as the business’s most significant change, and outlined a multi-brand retail concept including Bench, Stand and Kappa.
• Mary Portas: a new blueprint for purpose-led retail - Portas closed the day arguing that retail has been run on data, speed and price for too long. “I will bet you we will see more physical supporting digital instead of the other way around,” she said. She also spoke about her upcoming initiative, the Society of Shopkeepers, launching on Substack.

For more information, visit theindustry.fashion.