This season, over 85 British brands showcased their collections at tradeshows such as Splash!Paris and MAN Paris, as well as multi-brand showrooms like Welcome Edition, Awaykin, Paper Mache Tiger, 505 Showroom and Tora Tora. Scroll down to read more…

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Against a backdrop of pivotal summer elections in the EU, the UK and on the horizon in the US, rising global tensions, a war in Europe and concerns over the impact of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the June 2024 Paris fashion week tradeshows and showrooms generally reported that the key buyers had come and that the week remains an essential part of the international fashion calendar.

This season, the Paris Men’s, Swimwear and Beachwear and Women’s Pre-collections Fashion Week took place predominantly between 19 – 25 June 2024. The menswear events including Welcome Edition Showroom and Man Paris started earlier in the week, hot on the heels of Milan Men’s Fashion Week and Pitti Uomo in Florence, whereas most of the women’s pre-collections activity ramped up over the weekend and into the last few days. Splash!Paris took place on the Thursday-Saturday slot whereas its sister event Claret Showroom ran through to Tuesday. Tranoi took the decision not to show in June, concentrating instead on its new show in Tokyo and a number of temporary showrooms including Rainbowwave and Polly King skipped Paris in favour of Milan for this season because of the perceived impact of the Olympics.

Many of the menswear brands and showrooms were already considering or planning to visit the US this season with Welcome Edition New York in July or the Chicago Collective seen as representing good platforms in a buoyant market. Many UK buyers and some of the menswear brands were considering visiting shows in Copenhagen this season, including CIFF and Poet (7-9 August) and Mandatory (26-28 June).

UKFT’s Discover British Brands in Paris Map identified 85 UK companies showing in over 25 different shows and showrooms, promoted through in the press and online. The map  aims to help buyers and the press locate UK brands and designers exhibiting at Paris Men’s, Women’s Swimwear and Pre-collection Fashion Week between 19 – 27 June 2024. View the map here.

While none of the shows or showrooms publish their attendance figures, most confirmed that they had seen the key international buyers and that orders were being discussed and planned. Exhibitors at Welcome Edition and Man Paris (especially upstairs) were upbeat and the multi-brand pre-and women’s showrooms said they had appointments with the majority of regular customers. Those who had also shown at Milan Fashion Week commented that they had worked well with press there but that the business was still being done in Paris.

PaperMacheTiger reported that they had had a good sign up this season with an increase of in-showroom zoom calls to the US and the Middle East so that they were able to sell to buyers who had not physically travelled to Paris. Similarly, the Jewellery Showroom, Arddun, The Alphabet and Awaykin said that they were seeing their regular buyers but some additional contacts for the first time.

While buyers were being cautious, many of them had travelled and were placing some orders. The mood was more mixed for companies selling swimwear and beachwear as those markets have been hit by a very poor summer in most key markets, made worse by the fact that the Miami Swim Week shows had taken place a month and a half earlier than usual and had also been disappointing according to some. Some buying teams were reported as being  smaller and staying in Paris for fewer days because of the increased cost of travel and accommodation in Paris as a result of the Olympics.

Conversely, buyers from the US and the Middle East were reported to be particularly active. Menswear exhibitors at Welcome Edition and Man were especially pleased to see the presence of some good UK independents including Sevenstore from Liverpool. Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Fenwicks were reported to be supporting UK brands at the shows, as were key international store groups such as AlTayer, Lane Crawford, Saks, SHG China and even TsUM Moscow.

Emma Jones of Emma Jones Consultancy Showroom said: “Our buyers have either been or are coming and they are looking to place business. Paris is still the place where we see most of our international customers”.

Gemma and Kestin at Kestin, showing at Welcome Edition, said: “We were nervous about how the Olympics might affect footfall but it did not put off the best international buyers attending with Kestin seeing a record number of accounts making selections.”

The key topics of conversation at the shows were:

• High manufacturing costs in the UK due to high minimum wages and compliance costs, with cheaper goods available from other countries.
• Lack of UK grants for tradeshows and showrooms compared to Italy and France, hindering new companies from entering the export market.
• The low Japanese yen makes it hard for Japanese buyers to invest in UK collections and brands, affecting Japanese businesses with UK factories struggling with the increased minimum wage.
• Added costs and obstacles for UK businesses trading in the EU. Larger brands are trading well due to investments in EU companies, but smaller companies remain unattractive to EU buyers preferring “sells from EU” businesses.
• Global political uncertainties, particularly regarding the upcoming US elections.
• The return of Russian buyers to some shows and how UK companies can legally and ethically sell to them, with notable increases in sales to the Middle East and neighboring countries.
• Concerns about the administration of Matches and the decline of UK multi-brand independents, though new stores are emerging to fill gaps in the UK retail market.

Finally, precious jewellery companies were keen to find out more about the latest French hallmarking requirements and which companies are legally allowed to handle and sell precious jewellery in France following some serious issues and hefty fines from French Customs in March 2024. UKFT will release a guidance note for jewellery companies ahead of the September shows. France has its own requirements for handling precious metals, which require French hallmarking (post-Brexit) even for samples and companies must have an ATA Carnet.

In spite of the lack of grants for smaller companies, there were a number of exiting British brands showing for the first time including: APAR Editions, Bleue Burnham Clothing, Laura Andraschko, Goral and By Varga.

Most of the shows and showrooms confirmed that they intended to return to Paris for PFW September 2024, well after the end of the Olympics and Paralympics. Tranoi has confirmed its dates as 26-29 September at Palais Brongniart, Splash!Paris have confirmed 28-30 September at Pavillon Gabriel on the same dates as Première-Classe which will take place at the Carrousel du Louvre for the first time.

Paul Alger, international business director at UKFT said: “We all came to Paris with modest expectations this season but we have generally been pleased with the number of quality buyers from around the world who have come with a view to do business. Paris remains an important part of the international wholesale calendar and UKFT looks forward to supporting UK exporters again in September.”

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