Buzz is the be-all and end-all in this business, right?
Not necessarily.
Although certain trade shows have begun opening to the public to generate excitement around the young designers they highlight, others are camped against the idea.
By definition, of course, a trade show is exactly that — an event for professionals to meet and do business.
But fashion is a fickle business. With nearly a dozen different events competing for buyer attention in the “capital of creation” four times a year, and new shows regularly joining the calendar, organizers are battling to stand out from the competition.
“It can be frustrating, both for us and for the designers, to be working with a long-term vision, and for that only to be visible for four days, when there are 10 trade shows happening at the same time, and the buyers do not necessarily have time to come,” confided Michael Hadida, organizer of Tranoï.
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International buyers second this, often only taking in one or two shows while they are in town for the runway events.
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“Coordinating the trade shows’ timing so retailers have a better opportunity to see what is available in the marketplace would be beneficial,” Lanita Layton, vice president of men’s wear and men’s footwear at Holt Renfrew, told WWD.
To gain exposure, Hadida opened Tranoï to the public for the first time in October, and intends to repeat the experience.
“The idea is to create a world of discovery and not to limit ourselves, with the aim of building renown both for Tranoï and for the designers we represent,” he said. “Buyers take risks when they buy from young designers. Our approach means there is less risk involved, because the brands have other outlets to build renown as well as being spotted by the buyers.”
At that first public edition, Tranoï broadcast the runway shows live on large 3-D screens in the entrance to its Caroussel du Louvre venue the day after they took place.
Tranoï has also launched its own magazine, published quarterly and available on newsstands internationally, in order to build awareness. It has also created a Web community and online store to highlight its designers (see related story).
But Tranoï is alone in opening its whole event to the fashion-conscious layman. Other shows are diversifying with public elements, but not opening their whole shows to the masses.
Prêt à Porter Paris, for example, will repeat its Paris Fashion Days event, which launched in July, next year in an extended three-day format.
The concept is largely intended to provide a venue for creative designers in a runway setting, ahead of September salons when buyers’ budgets have often already been spent at the pre-collections.
On the first day, designers showed their lines for the following season to trade visitors, and on the second they showed their current creations to the fashion-conscious public “to capture potential clients and actively communicate [with the public],” Prêt à Porter Paris salons director Muriel Piaser explained.
She said that the first edition was a success with the public, which “was targeted via partnerships with fashion magazines.”
The organizer’s main events, Atmosphère’s and The Box, remain trade only.
This positioning highlights one of the main reasons that most show organizers remain trade only: Designers are showing their products for coming seasons, which established brands do not want to reveal to the public months before the styles are in the stores.
Organizers cautioned that it is still early to quantify the effects of shows granting public access, and would not break down attendance by trade vs. public.
At the upcoming editions of twin shows Premiere Classe and Who’s Next, certain elements, including fashion shows from exhibiting brands, will be open to nonbuyers after 4 p.m., but by invitation only, a spokesman explained, ensuring that only an enlightened few, like designers, gain entry.
“It is really important to reinforce the professional side of things,” the spokesman said. “Our exhibitors come to do business, and we cannot divert from that.”
Others are more vehement. “Certain trade shows do this, as it makes them feel busy,” Nic Jones, organizer of avant-garde event Rendez-Vous, said. “We’ve never been [open to the public] and I don’t think we ever will be. It’s a professional event.
“The aim of Rendez-Vous is to create an atmosphere akin to a giant showroom where buyers and brands can work properly.”
The organizers of Vendôme Luxury Trade Show agreed. “We prefer to keep our spaces exclusives and strictly professional,” a spokesman for the event said. “We think that our exhibitors prefer not to be disturbed while they are busy with clients.”
“For some trade events it may work,” said Ed Mandelbaum, an organizer of D&A Paris, the French edition of Designers & Agents that bowed here last October. “But our clear opinion is that the ultimate person who is paying the bills is the retailer. To bring in the public is in conflict with this, taking money out of the pocket of the retailer.”
Intimate apparel event Salon International de la Lingerie and its sister Interfilière are both trade-only shows.
“The shows we run are 100 percent dedicated to intimate-apparel professionals, for clear reasons: We reveal trends two years in advance at Interfilière (for the fabrics), and one year in advance at the Salon International de la Lingerie (for the collections),” said Valérie Lemain, lingerie director of organizer Eurovet.
That said, she sees the use of certain shows widening their perspectives. “Anything that can help promote and dynamize a market or sector is a good thing. In the end, it generates a positive buzz,” she added.
“As much as there is beautiful product out there that I am sure exhibitors feel needs more exposure,” Holt Renfrew’s Layton noted, “from past experience, I don’t believe it would be beneficial to open the shows up to the public. For the exhibitors, it would take focus away from their livelihood to present to the public at the same time.”