The UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT) accompanied a group of more than 120 British brands and designers to Paris Women’s Fashion Week from September to October 2024, with support from the Department for Business & Trade (DBT).

Paris Women’s Fashion Week has long been established as the end of the international womenswear wholesale selling season. While no official attendance figures exist for any of the tradeshows and multibrand showrooms which take place in Paris at this time of year, the week is widely recognised as the most international of the fashion weeks and is a key barometer as to the mood of international retailers for designer womenswear. The wholesale market has witnessed a fair degree of upheaval so far this year and this was the first set of Paris shows since the 2024 Paris Olympics and the last shows before the US Presidential elections in November. Traditionally this is also a good time for top-up orders with US department stores for the Holiday season as well as Cruise and Resort. For this reason, UKFT was particularly keen to see whether exhibitors, shows and showrooms would recommit to Paris and whether the buyers would reward them with their presence and business.

The September-October Paris Fashion Week shows were characterised by a general feeling of optimism and engagement, with reports of the buyers being back and engaged again. All of the key international tradeshows and multi-brand showrooms returned to Paris, including those which had moved to Milan during the run up to the Olympics in June for the men’s and pre-collections. Those which had also showed in Milan had found this positive, but they recognised that Paris is more international than Milan and that Asian buyers in particular were more likely to spend time in Paris even if they had been to Milan. Overall, the clear message is that Paris is where the orders are most likely to be confirmed.

Tranoi returned to Paris at the Palais Brongniart for a three-day show with buyers very much in evidence, especially on the first day of the show. Most of the UK exhibitors reported that they had had a good season at the show, and that key international buyers visited and discussed orders. One brand said they had done less well but they had had a successful March edition. Tranoi have confirmed that they will also be taking a second group to Tranoi Tokyo during Tokyo Fashion Week in February 2025.

Premiere Classe moved to the Carrousel du Louvre this season for the first time as the Tuileries Gardens were not available immediately after the Paralympics. Premiere Classe also operated a three-day show. UKFT found the show to be busy on the first and last day, and exhibitors generally happy with the three-day format and location. On the first day of the show, UK milliner Stephen Jones gave an inspirational talk on his life and work ahead of a retrospective scheduled later in the year at the Galliera museum. Premiere Classe have confirmed that the next edition will take place from 7-10 March.

Splash!Paris returned for a successful three day show at the Pavillon Gabriel, the venue it launched in June. The show was a sell out and felt busier than in June. At the same time, the owners ran Claret Showroom both inside the show and also at a separate location in the 2^ndarrondissement.

Looking to the showrooms, these were also well attended. The British Fashion Council’s LONDON show ROOMS returned to Paris for the first time since Covid with a very strong launch on Thursday when journalist Sarah Mower MBE hosted a VIP breakfast. Rainbowwave was very busy with appointments when UKFT visited. Polly King took a smaller space in a new location and was similarly busy. The other multibrand showrooms all reported that they had good levels of prearranged appointments. In particular, Awaykin, PaperMacheTiger, Arddun, The Jewellery Showroom, The Alphabet, Emma Jones Consultancy and Ashowroom were all busy when UKFT visited. Once again, this season a number of UK designers showed in the Milanese collective showroom space CSM.

This season there was a substantial increase in the number of UK brands showing on their own in various galleries and apartments around Paris. All of them reported positive engagement with buyers from around the world. This was particularly encouraging as some of the smaller designers traditionally struggle to get noticed by buyers. IA London reported meetings with a number of serious department stores and Jenny Packham operated with a packed showroom programme. Rixo and others also reported that they had received a good reaction from buyers this season. There was also a record number of UK designers on the Chambre Syndicale official catwalk schedule.

UKFT coordinated a promotion of the over 120 UK brands showing at the events. The promotion was based around a Discover British Brands in Paris map identifying all the brands showing, their locations and a link to their website. This was promoted to UKFT’s direct contacts as well as online and on social media, as well as advertised in the Modem Paris map which was distributed at all the key shows, showrooms and catwalks in Paris. UKFT’s activity and presence in Paris was supported by the Department for Business and Trade.

In a marked difference from June, there was a noticeable return of Asian buyers, including Japan, Korea and China. Ships Japan and Beams were especially active across a number of shows and showrooms, as were United Arrows Japan and Shinsegae from Korea. Buyers from the Middle East were also seen in good numbers although many of them spend more time in Paris. US buyers were also seen at the shows although there were reports that US buyers, especially some of the better-known luxury department stores, were slow to pay. Conversely, US and Canadian multibrand independents were reported as being more upbeat than had been expected especially in a Presidential election year. The Middle East was much in evidence with major store groups in attendance in Paris following on from Milan. There were also reports of buyers from Hong Kong and China, although the mainland Chinese market for designer products is still operating at a reduced pace since Covid. This is partly because of the longer lockdown suffered by Chinese businesses which has weakened the economy.

In September 2023, a number of the luxury jewellery showrooms were visited by French customs who fined a number of precious jewellery exhibitors for a number of reasons, including failure to have the correct French hallmarking and/or for import precious metals (or goods in general) into France without an ATA Carnet. Some UK companies had been fined into the thousands based on 10% of the value of the goods.  In September 2024, UKFT understands that French Customs again visited the jewellery showrooms but adopted a softer approach, fining only those imported brands which did not have an ATA Carnet, or which had not declared their activity to the authorities ahead of the shows.

Paul Alger, international business director at UKFT, said: “There has been a markedly positive feeling in the air in Paris this season as buyers have visited the shows and showrooms and discussed and placed orders. It has been especially interesting to see that while Milan Fashion Week was a success for many in June, Asian buyers in particular are still firmly wedded to Paris as a place to discuss business and discover new brands and trends.”

Download a PDF version of the map to find out more:

The ‘Discover British Brands in Paris’ Map

Find out more about UKFT’s activity relating to international trade shows and British brands around the world at the link below.

UKFT DISCOVER BRITISH BRANDS