Home / News / Why is Paris Fashion Week so important for UK brands?

Why is Paris Fashion Week so important for UK brands?

01/03/2022

The catwalks, showrooms and tradeshows in and around Paris Fashion Week make up an incredibly important platform for UK brands to meet with buyers, showcase their latest collections and connect with the industry.

While resourceful and resilient designers have adapted their ways of working over the last two years, it is clear that a return to some sort of normality is very welcome. For fashion and accessories in particular, being able to see and touch the collections in person is very significant.

Eudon Choi

Contemporary womenswear designer Eudon Choi, showing this season at Paper Mache Tiger, said he is pleased to be back in the French capital: “With the pandemic, we had to adapt our way of working with buyers and so being able to travel again, to go back to the showroom, meet the buyers is kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally being back in Paris feels really special and exciting. I’m so happy to be able to show the collection again, it’s always better to get the touch and feel of the clothes.”

Être Cécile

This sentiment is echoed by the founders of fellow Paper Mache Tiger exhibitor, womenswear brand Être Cécile. Yasmin Sewell and Kyle Robinson said: “We are excited to be back traveling and showing our collections in the flesh!”

BAV TAiLOR

Sustainable luxury brand BAV TAiLOR, showing at Vice Versa, called Paris Fashion Week “a fundamental platform” for the development and international recognition of her conscious luxury sphere. She said: “The calibre of buyers and press that scout my brand in Paris are crucial for scaling my business to the next level, therefore I am very pleased to be back in Paris for this optimistic 2022.”

Madeleine Thompson

Cashmere brand Madeleine Thompson is showing this season at Claret Showroom. The team said: “We are thrilled to back travelling for PFW as it is so important to connect with people face to face, collection to collection, especially after having been working from home for so long.”

Over at Premiere Classe, there is the biggest selection of new and returning UK brands this season including Métier by Tomfoolery, Orris, Perle De Lune and St Piece London.

Métier by Tomfoolery

Jewellery brand Métier’s founder said: “We are thrilled to be back showing our collection in Paris, to meet again in person our stockists and to allow buyers to see and feel the quality of our jewellery.”

JordanLuca

JordanLuca is presenting an installation at 3537 in Paris on Saturday 5 March for PERFECT DAY by The PERFECT MAGAZINE featuring the brand’s FW22 collections. JordanLuca said: “We are always happy to come to Paris, this is a major hub for creativity. A lot of things are happening here; it is always so full of inspiration. We do London and Milan for our collections, but a detour to Paris is essential for its energy.”

Orris London

The founder and designer of glasses chain label Orris, Tara Shen, exclaimed: “Well, if you can only do one show in a season, that will be Paris. We’re excited to be back after two years!”

Perle de Lune

Perle De Lune’s founder said: “We’re excited to reconnect face to face with our customers, and show real/actual [jewellery] pieces, so they can feel and value their quality.”

St Piece London

St Piece London’s team described Paris as the “heart of the fashion world”. The silk scarf and accessory brand added: “After almost two years, we cannot wait to catch up with friends, colleagues and clients and move forward and bring fun, colour and fashion back to our daily life.”

Freya Rose

Footwear and jewellery designer Freya Rose has chosen to make her debut at Premiere Classe this season. She said: “We are proud to be showcasing Freya Rose’s shoe and jewellery collections at an international exhibition renowned for showing the best talent in accessory design.”

Meanwhile womenswear brand Sinead Gorey is also showing for the first time in Paris at the Fourmarketing showroom. She said: “[This] will open the brand up to international stores and introduce the brand to new buyers.”

Finally, a number of showrooms are taking place virtually this season as part of Paris Fashion Week. These include AQ Showroom and Schröroom.

Out of Sync

The team at streetwear brand Out of Sync, showing at AQ Market, said: “Paris Fashion Week is important to us because it gives a small independent brand like ours the opportunity to showcase our collections to an international audience and expand our network.”

Anciela

Womenswear brand Anciela, showing at Schröroom, was in agreement. Founder and designer Jennifer Droguett said: “Paris has always been the go-to destination to meet and mingle with the world’s top buyers, the best sales of the season always happen during PFW.”

UKFT GLOBAL BRANDS

UKFT and the Department for International Trade are delighted to support the creative group of UK brands at events, showrooms and catwalk shows in and around Paris Fashion Week, as well as those showing virtually this season.

Follow the brands mentioned above on Instagram: