The atmosphere at the Who’s Next trade fair in Paris, which took place from January 18th to 20th, 2025, was characterized by impressive cohesion within the French fashion industry – across generations. The January issue, dedicated to the Fall/Winter 2025/2026 collections and the Spring/Summer 2025 jewelry collections, brought a new central question into focus: no longer just “Who is Next?” , but rather “What’s Next?” was the focus of the event.
The relevance of this question is underlined by the dimensions of the event. The two trade fairs organized by WSN Développement – Who’s Next and the International Lingerie Fair – brought together more than 1,200 brands, 45 percent of them French. With 60,000 international visitors expected, this is the largest fashion event in the world.
In contrast to the immediately successive men’s and couture fashion weeks, which are primarily aimed at media attention, Who’s Next focuses on practical goals. The trade fair offers exhibitors a platform to attract multi-brand retailers and link stylistic innovations with economic success. Even if specific business figures are rarely published, the 31-year success story of the event shows that it is still very important for the industry. Especially at a time when solidarity within the French fashion industry is becoming increasingly important, Who’s Next is sending a strong signal: looking into the future together, exploiting potential and driving forward innovations.
Young companies in dialogue with established brands
The diverse mix of genres and brands at Who’s Next promotes exchange between actors from different generations. Here, market-leading labels meet digital natives who are increasingly discovering the advantages of traditional ready-to-wear.
An example of this is Trama, a brand that specializes in hand-knitted baby alpaca sweaters. Manufactured in Cuzco, Peru, the high-quality pieces represent authentic craftsmanship and sustainable value creation. The two founders, Cinthya Guerrero and Adriana Seminario, run Trama as a digital native vertical brand (DNVB). They realized early on that a purely digital and order-based sales strategy would not be enough to finance the production of their collections.
Their participation in the trade fair underlines this insight: with sweaters and vests in a price range of 200 to 500 euros, they were able to win important partners in just one season. These include two French multi-brand retailers in Rennes and Caen as well as eight other boutiques worldwide, including in Tokyo and Osaka.
At the same time, the Bensimon brand returns to the trade fair after a twelve-year absence. The reason for this long break? “The proximity of brands from abroad who copy the models and offer them cheaper the following season,” explains Nathalie Verot, commercial director, to FashionUnited. The organizers reject this and appear astonished. Be that as it may, Bensimon is back, modest but safe.
The brand presents a collection of bags and sneakers. Ironically, these have their counterpart in the luxury brand Valentino’s spring-summer 2025 collection. Influence luxury, yes. To be copied by the Chinese, no.
Cacharel, another iconic label, is also celebrating its return to the French stage. Buoyed by the energy of its 93-year-old founder Jean Bousquet, the ready-to-wear brand, founded in 1958, is making a fresh start after difficult years. Once known for its crepe and Liberty blouses, Cacharel withdrew from the French market due to the coronavirus pandemic. Without its own boutiques and a national multi-brand network, the brand is now relying on an impressive stand at the entrance to the trade fair in order to regain its footing.
Under the creative direction of Thomas Derrien, the iconic typography of the brand name remains, but the style has been reinterpreted. Aimed at the modern, preppy Parisian, the current collection includes velvet pieces, boxy-knit blazers and printed shirts – a mix of heritage and contemporary design that aims to spur Cacharel’s resurgence.
The solidarity of the fashion industry enables Who’s Next to expand its scope of expertise
Traditional brands that are considered part of French fashion heritage also face the challenge of adapting to new market conditions. Selling a collection exclusively through private showrooms or in retail, as is often the case with renowned labels without resellers, carries the risk of missing out on the vibrant zeitgeist and the dynamics of the market.
This development plays into the hands of Frédéric Maus, managing director of WSN Développement. For him, it underlines the increasing relevance and legitimacy of Who’s Next as a leading trade fair. Strengthened by this insight and driven by his vision of “conceptualizing the retail offering,” Maus announced to FashionUnited that he would expand the trade fair offering. In the future, Who’s Next will also focus on design in a more commercial form – in addition to Matter & Shape – as well as material procurement.
This step should make the competition sit up and take notice, but Maus can point to proven experience: WSN Développement has already established a successful concept with Elements, the sourcing area for jewelry at Bijorhca. Season after season, this area attracts numerous trade visitors and confirms that innovative additions have the potential to reach new target groups and enrich the market.
Without multi-brand retailers there would be no trade fair – that remains an unshakable truth. This idea is also reflected in the concise and welcoming stand of the Fédération Nationale de l’Habillement (FNH). The stand attracted a lot of attention and was compared by some with a wink to a love hotel – an apt analogy, because that’s exactly what it’s all about: the relationship between French multi-brand retailers and contemporary fashion, whether established in the market or as yet undiscovered , to revitalize.
The challenges are obvious: the industry is aging, business takeovers are becoming increasingly difficult, and the younger generation needs to be re-engaged in the world of retail. The FNH stand symbolizes this urgency and sets an example for the dialogue between tradition and innovation – an approach that is essential to shape the future of French retail sustainably.
To this end, Pierre Talamon, President of the FNH, is fighting on several fronts, as he explains to FashionUnited after his welcome cocktail. His concerns? The dates for the sales: “The collections must again find a sales rhythm that corresponds to the season.” He is for the ban on Black Friday, for the law against ultra-fast fashion and has filed a lawsuit with the administrative court against the law imposed by the city of Paris established traffic-calmed zone in the center. “Pedestrian zones attract cheap shops because passers-by are not walking with the intention of making a conscious purchase,” he explains.
Aware that company succession is difficult, he criticizes the reduction in state funding for trainees from 6,000 to 5,000 euros annually, welcomes the monthly payment of rent and would like to see a renewed discussion about the index for calculating rent increases.
In short, these are technical but essential issues that serve to further consolidate the fledgling solidarity within the French fashion industry. From fashion schools to retailers, Who’s Next offers an almost essential platform to join forces and pursue common goals.
This article previously appeared on Fashionunited.fr and was created using digital tools translated.
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