Paris Fashion Week, which will be flanked by shows from major French fashion houses until March 5, 2024, will also host trade fairs and commercial showrooms, both private and multi-brand and group events. FashionUnited has summarized the events for you.
Première Classe: 35 years of supporting young talent
35 years is a reason to celebrate, and that’s what the organizers of the Première Classe, who are also responsible for Who’s Next and Bijorhca, plan to do from Friday, March 1, 2024 to Monday, March 4, 2024. Especially by celebrating their birthday with the designer award Andam, whose partner they are, on Friday evening. The trade fair, originally intended for fashion accessories, is now a ready-to-wear event.
A total of 350 brands, from established to young, will be gathered in tents in the Tuileries Garden, staged around a fantasy course designed by Zyva Studio. “A spatial experience that plays with scale and flirts with surrealism, in which a curious mascot invites visitors to stroll between the stands and meeting rooms,” says a press release.
This also means the stage is clear for young designers: As a partner of the Hyères festival, Première Classe has invited the 2023 award winners – Igor Dieryck, Gabrielle Huguenot, Christiane Schwambach and Victor Salinier. The leather industry incubator Au-Delà du Cuir is putting 15 young brands for accessories, interior design and sneakers at the center of its own exhibition. The winners of the Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris, Clara Daguin and the accessories brand Domestique will also benefit from the mentorship of Première Classe.
Tranoï: international pavilions and showrooms
From Thursday, February 29th to Sunday, March 3rd, 2024, over 180 brands will be present at the Palais Brongniart in the international pavilions of the Tranoï trade fair. 20 African designers of pret-a-porter and accessories supported by “The Creative Africa Nexus” (Canex) program, ten Korean talents with Kfashion82 from Shinsegae, and eight Peruvian designers with the Peruvian state funding agency Promperu . There are also international showrooms: Tudoo Showroom (China), Berlin Showroom (Germany), Seoul Showroom (South Korea), Hive Showroom (China) and Afa Showroom (Austria).
The organizers of Tranoï also rely on the artistic direction of the sourcing fair Première Vision to set the trends for autumn/winter 2024/2025. Four tones dominate the colors: yellow, a clear orange, a simple gray and opal green. The range includes four fashion trends: denim, feel-good pieces, promising talent and the metallic wave.
Finally, it should be mentioned that Tranoï is no longer an official partner of Paris Fashion Week, the registered name that frames the events promoted by the FHCM. There are also two other Paris trade fairs taking place at the same time. Woman Paris at 10 rue de Lancry and the new Matter and Shape fair in the Tuileries Garden.
International showrooms for pret-a-porter women’s fashion fall/winter 2024/2025
The international brands presenting their collections are exhibited in numerous showrooms, which are either multi-brand or collective shows. This is the case at the Sphère showroom of the French fashion umbrella organization, Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, where the first ready-to-wear collection by the young designer Charles de Vilmorin is also being shown this season.
These showrooms are operated by representatives who are responsible for all or part of the target area. They charge a flat rate to occupy the premises during the seasonal sales campaign, contact buyers, invite them, present the collections, take orders and then follow up on sales from confirmation to delivery. For brands, delegating marketing is a relief, but not a 100% solution as sales are not guaranteed.
Among the international showrooms coming to Paris during Fashion Week is the Italian 247 showroom, located at Rue 16ᵉ from February 29 to March 5, 2024. Brands such as APC, EENK, Kenzo, Petar Petrov, Peter Do, ROKH, among others, are presented here. The British showroom Rainbow Wave, which will be located at 7ᵉ rue Saint-Dominique from March 1st to 5th, features jewelry by Gas, the denim brand Re/done by Thierry Colson and the Dutch company Parrot with Marie Adam-Leenaerdt, Roeh and Lisa Yang.
Another showroom is also known as an incubator for emerging talent, the Tomorrow Showroom, which has one branch in London, two in Milan, one in New York, one in Shanghai and one in Paris. In addition to sponsoring the Andam Prize, the showroom markets new wave labels such as Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Coperni, Bianca Saunders, Blue Marble, Ester Manas, GMBH, Ottolinger and Rochas.
The difficult journey of buyers during Fashion Week
There are also many other showrooms that are not officially listed, making it more difficult for buyers to find them. Only the Moddity company platform allows those who wish to find information about the dates of the presentations, addresses and the brands on display.
“Fashion Week is not an event, but the coming together of a whole range of actors at a certain time and in a certain place, all of whom have different realities and challenges,” explains Giulietta Canu from Moddity to FashionUnited. “Depending on their strategy, some brands want to gain visibility, while others prefer to stay in the background.”
Among the Moddity faithful is Showroom Roméo, which opens its doors from February 28th to March 6th at Rue Ferdinand Duval, 4ᵉ, unveiling Korean and Thai talent. This season features a collection by Thai Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya, a princess from the Kingdom of Thailand.
Finally, some press departments have expanded their portfolio – and at the request of their customers – to include marketing events. This is the case of Totem with labels such as Theunissen, which can be seen on the catwalk outside the official program, or Juana Martin. It is likely that in this labyrinth of commercial presentations, buyers for several brands will hardly have time to watch the fashion shows.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.fr. Translated and edited by Simone Preuss.