UK brands at Paris Fashion Week SS21 – physical and digital
30/09/2020
This week and next, the eyes of the international fashion world turn to Paris. Paris Fashion Week has maintained a heavy schedule of up to 20 physical and another 60 virtual shows and events.
Paris is where orders are traditionally placed or confirmed. Most of the Paris Fashion Week shows and showrooms are taking place in virtual format only, with the exception of Première Classe which is joining forces with its sister shows Who’s Next and the sustainable show Impact, and Man|Woman Paris from 2-4 October and a handful of local showrooms. Première Classe and the other shows in the Tuileries will be supported by a complementary digital tool on ViMeet. Tranoi has decided to remain digital only this season with the Tranoi Link platform at www.tranoi.com
The Department for International Trade and HM Treasury have not been able to offer British companies Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP) grants for virtual shows or showrooms. This, and the ongoing situation around Covid-19, has meant that UK companies are more cautious about travelling to Pairs than in previous seasons. Most of the predominantly UK-run showrooms which usually pop up across Paris, are working digitally although the number of UK brands on them is considerably lower than we would have hoped, directly as a result of this lack of support.
UKFT has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for International Trade requesting urgent support and has not yet received a reply.
However, UKFT is pleased to announce that three British companies will be physically promoting their collections for SS21 with grant support from the Department for International Trade through UKFT and that a number of other companies have decided to support their virtual tradeshows without government support:
Ester Kubisz will be showing her collection of unisex deconstructed tailoring for SS21 at The Dejima Showroom, The Hoxton Paris, 30-32 Rue du Sentier, 75002 Paris, September 28 – October 2 – by appointment only
Scottish based Rocio will be showing their SS21 eco-friendly, aged harvested acacia wood bags at Premiere Classe Tuileries 02 – 04 October, Jardin des Tuileries, Terrasse des Feuillants, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris, 9.30 – 19.00 Friday 02 and Saturday 03 October, 9.30 – 18.00 Sunday 04 October.
Ingrid Kraftchenko’s avant garde, genderless-wear and accessories with integrated music technology will be showing at the Plan 8 SS21 showroom , 12 rue des Arquebusiers, 75003 Paris, 10.00 – 19.00, by appointment only.
Other UKFT members, such as Harris Wharf London will be showing separately in their own showrooms in Paris. The Harris Wharf SS21 collection can be seen at 11, rue de Thorigny 75003, by appointment only.
Tranoi Link will host four UK brands:
Showrooms
Meanwhile, most of the usual British and internationally-run showrooms are open to buyers digitally until the end of the season and have British brands.
AQ Market’s UK brands include:
Awaykin’s UK brands include:
Claret Showroom’s UK brand:
D/Ark’s UK brands include:
Four Marketing’s UK brands include:
Le Works’s UK brands include:
Ordre’s UK brand:
Paper Mache Tiger’s UK brands include:
Polly King & Co’s UK brands include:
Rainbowwave’s UK brands include:
Riccardo Grassi’s UK brands include:
Schroroom’s UK brands include:
The Alphabet’s UK brands include:
Tomorrow’s UK brands include:
Tora Tora’s UK brands include:
Touba’s UK brands include:
Little Brownings
Sibyl
In addition, a number of brands including Marques Almeida will be selling their collections on Joor.
Wherever they are, UKFT would like to wish all its usual exporters a successful Paris Fashion Week and we look forward to seeing you all in Paris (hopefully) next season!
Fashion Week Updates from London and Milan – September 2020
London Fashion Week – Catwalk only:
London Fashion Week closed its virtual doors on 22nd September and demonstrated once again that, in a world dominated by Covid-19 travel restrictions, the show must go on – albeit digitally and very much focused on Direct to Consumer channels in line with the new normal. London Fashion Week Digital brought together a huge amount of digital content, livestreamed catwalk and live shows. UKFT members Burberry and Erdem showed their collections for SS21 as did Victoria Beckham, Qasimi, Oliver Spencer and Misa Harada. But the digital format also made it possible to widen the appeal of fashion week to include conversations with industry stars such as Christopher Raeburn to featuring shows and installations to new talents such as JordanLuca, as well as 1×1 Studio and Dan Shan. For the first time, this also included IA London, an exciting new brand launched at Fashion Scout, with which UKFT has worked at Paris Fashion Week before. Whilst digital formats have had a democratising effect on fashion and sit well with D2C (Direct to Consumer) business which has kept many businesses large and small afloat in these challenging times, they cannot guarantee buy-in from trade professionals and wholesale buyers who traditionally place their orders in Milan and Paris.
Catch up is available at www.londonfashionweek.co.uk , www.fashionscout.co.uk and www.onoff.tv
Milan Fashion Week – Physical and digital Catwalks, physical and digital showrooms with supporting physical tradeshow White:
Following in the footsteps of London, MFW too was digitally powered this season. The big names from the Italian fashion scene were all present from Prada to Fendi and Valentino and the schedule remained primarily dominated by the big Italian fashion houses. Whilst most of the presentations were digital, Milan is currently less locked-down than London and there were more “live” shows at physical venues. The White Milan tradeshow took place in physical format at Superstudio Più with UK brands Glamorous, Laura Theiss, Lyph, Meher Kakalia and Patrick McDowell represented in its “B2B Marketplace”. Meanwhile the Super Milano tradefair remained online at Pitti Online. At the same time, many of Milan’s physical showrooms remained open physically, by appointment only as always. Most of the showrooms were also offering virtual meetings on Zoom and other platforms including Joor.com for international buyers who could not make the journey.
The UK’s A Cold Wall offered a digital presentation as part of Milan Fashion Week on the first day.
Catch up is available at www.milanofashionweek.cameramoda.it , www.whiteshow.com and www.pittimmagine.com
UKFT is proud to be supporting the presence of Ester Kubisz, Rocio and Ingrid Kraftchenko in Paris this season through the Department for International Trade’s Tradeshow Access Programme.