Two of the most important fairs in the fashion industry took place parallel to the Paris Fashion Week, the last shows of which were presented on Tuesday: the Première Classe in the Jardin des Tuileries and the Tranoï in the Palais Brongniart. FashionUnited reports on the impressions.
Just a few meters from the vibrant Rue de Rivoli, the Première Classe trade fair received its guests with the vaccination certificate being checked – it was no longer necessary to wear a mask inside. The fair took place over four days from March 4th to 7th and gathered 251 exhibitors: 38 percent French and 62 percent international brands, mainly from Italy, England, Spain, Belgium and Portugal.
Despite the war in Ukraine, presented at the Paris fashion week
in different ways was the subject, the atmosphere on the Première Classe was good and lively from day one. In particular, the fair could count on the presence of many well-known buyers, including representatives from: Galeries Lafayette, Neiman Marcus, La Samaritaine, La Redoute, Printemps and Bloomingdales.
There was an atmosphere that was different from the White fair – which took place in Milan at the end of February – according to Marie-Camille Schuler, Sales and Marketing Manager at Chloé Stora: “I think that France is very resilient and very courageous. Today you don’t feel like there’s a particular impact compared to the White Show in Milan where I was last week where everyone was in shock, very reserved, very security conscious and not at all in a mood to close clothes to buy. It’s a bit odd to compare the two reactions.”
In addition to the Fall/Winter 2022 collections of the jewelry, accessories and ready-to-wear brands, the Première Classe presented a collective of African brands in collaboration with the investment company Birmian and the Institut Français de la Mode (IFM). A number of award-winning talents were present, including Oblique (winner of the Prix Mode Responsable Lors du concours Talents de mode du Village des créateurs de Lyon) as well as former finalists of the Festival of Hyères, Casa Remedios, Amuro, Lii and Céline Shen.
The next editions of the Première Classe will take place from September 30 to October 3, 2022 and from March 3 to 6, 2023.
Tranoï: a mixed edition
After several seasons at the Palais de Tokyo, this year the Tranoï Fair returned to its original location: the Palais Brongniart. The event welcomed a total of 107 designers and creative brands from March 4th to 7th, 50 percent of which were new names. The peculiarities of this year’s edition included the partnership with Seoul Fashion Week and the presence of one of the few (perhaps only) Ukrainian designers who managed to come to Paris for the catwalk season: Lili Litkovskaya.
On Saturday, March 5th, the atmosphere was calmer than at the Première Classe that FashionUnited attended the day before. Several exhibitors interviewed spoke of a “moderate” or “decent” edition and reported that “it’s not that far yet” because the Asian buyers have still not returned to the fair.
Fortunately, the fair could count on its digital offer, Tranoï Link, the platform for making contacts between brands and retailers. More than 60 appointments were organized via live streaming “for Asian buyers who could not travel, including about 40 from Japan: Beams, Isetan, Estnation, United Arrows…”, explained the press agency responsible for the event.
Among the buyers present at the fair, Tranoï welcomed 24S, AB33, Bach Copenhagen, Bergdorf Goodman, Bertinotti, Blake, Dell’Oglio, Fenwick, Folli Follie, Gago, Galeries Lafayette, Hudson Bay, Jogging, according to a statement , La Rinascente, La Samaritaine, Le Bon Marché, Lodenfrey, Marubeni, Merci, Neiman Marcus, Net A Porter, Pia Pia, Printemps, Série Noire, United Arrows, Vakko, Victoire and Yagi Tsusho.
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.fr. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ