Paris Trade Show Organizers Get Creative

It’s not just about price.

So even though crisis-weary consumers are still pinching pennies, Paris trade show organizers are striving to appeal to their creative, eco-friendly and social media sides with the upcoming round of events.

Prêt à Porter Paris hopes to inject some optimism with this year’s theme, “La Parisienne Engagée” (“The Socially Conscious Parisienne”), by putting forward eco- conscious brands like Bilum, which produces handbags from recycled ad banners and car seat belts. Blogger Isabelle Thomas will choose ethical fashion items to highlight on her Mode Personnel(le) site, modeperson- nel.wordpress.com.

Designers’ innovation is the central theme at Who’s Next and Premiere Classe, which run concurrently with Prêt à Porter Paris. Under the banner “Non à la Pensée Unique” (“Just say no to uniform thought”), both shows selected designers to create unique and unusual pieces that will be presented on the catwalk during the fairs.

“We’re trying to promote creativity and [out-of- the-box] thinking and abolish trends for the sake of trends,” said Xavier Clergerie, managing director for Who’s Next and Premiere Classe.

With an increasing number of trade fairs acting solely as marketing platforms rather than order generators, Clergerie says the key to success for Who’s Next and Premiere Classe is delivering a unique exhibitor lineup.

“We are an orders-driven fair because we have always looked for little brands, not marketing machines,” he said. “Buyers still write orders here be- cause we select brands that don’t have the backing to present their collections around the world.”

Clergerie added that emerging categories at Who’s Next include swimwear, men’s wear, children’s wear and even hairstyling, which he called the “next fash- ion accessory.”

Other show highlights include the Blue Noir Tattoo art shop, where Paris-based tattoo artist Jeykill will set up a temporary workshop; a beauty bar; an ex- hibition of works by French illustrator Ciou; Hippy Market, a selection of vintage clothing available for sale on site, and the show’s guest bloggers.

Novelties at Premiere Classe range from pop-up stores for Braï Jewellery — a collection of rings, brace- lets and necklaces with letters of the alphabet written in Braille — and Berlin’s Spreeglanz, a collective of young international jewelry designers.

Meanwhile, the second edition of Who’s Next and Premiere Classe Dubai will run Oct. 19 to 21 at the Madinat Jumeirah in an effort to drive sales abroad.

Prêt à Porter Paris is also looking beyond French borders for new talents.

To coincide with the “Year of Russia” in France, it is highlighting a trio of Moscow-based designers: Kira Plastinina, Alexander Terekhov and Max Chernitsov.

Tranoï, meanwhile, is setting its sights on Berlin and will host several German designers at its show, slated for Oct. 1 to 4 during Paris Fashion Week.

The overall theme for the show is “Fashion for All,” reflecting the growing democratization of fashion in the blogger era (department store Galeries Lafayette is working with a similar idea for a series of events this fall celebrating street fashion).

“We are opening up the show to the public at large,” said Tranoï organizer Michael Hadida. “The aim of bringing the show to a wider audience is to give our designers greater visibility.”

The drive includes the Sept. 30 launch of an e- commerce site featuring a selection of current season products from each designer represented at the show and daily updates from a team of bloggers.

Meanwhile, the sixth issue of the Tranoï magazine will be distributed overseas for the first time through newsstands, boutiques, museums and hotels, begin- ning in October.

Following the Chambre Syndicale’s decision to stop staging fashion shows at the Carrousel du Louvre — also one of Tranoï’s four Paris venues — the trade show is expanding into three halls there from two previously and has added 100 new brands, according to Hadida.

Running Sept. 3 to 7, furniture and industrial de- sign fair Maison & Objet will unveil its new Hall 7, which will host the show’s Now and Design à Vivre sections. For its 17th edition, Maison & Objet will also present its inspiration book for 2011. Called “Intime,” the book shows how industrial design can satisfy peo- ple’s desire for privacy.