LYON, France — The latest edition of Lyon Mode City, a trade show for intimate apparel, swimwear and fabrics, drew an expanded international audience.
The overlapping dates with the big Igedo trade show in Dusseldorf did not appear to hurt attendance at the three-day event in Lyon, which closed last Monday. Some 9,848 visitors attended the Lyon show, an increase of 5.4 percent compared with the September 1993 show. There were 2,056 non-French visitors, a jump of almost 48 percent, and the tally included 122 Americans.
The show presented 350 intimate apparel, swimwear and textile brands, of which roughly 30 percent were outside France. The number of exhibitors was up about 20 percent over a year ago, totalling approximately 270.
Vendors generally praised the logistics of the show for several reasons: it’s less expensive to visit than Dusseldorf; Lyon’s proximity to Paris (two hours by train); the uniformity of the exhibitors’ stands, and the presentation of swimwear, lingerie and fabrics as separate categories.
“This show is really gaining in importance,” said Michal Ron-Gavish, a sales manager from Tel Aviv’s Gottex Models Ltd., who came to Lyon with Gottex’s exclusive French importer, Henri Daniel.
Ron-Gavish said she likes the show in Lyon because it attracts buyers from the southern European countries, and the French buyers who no longer attend Igedo. Nevertheless, Gottex also showed at Igedo through its German distributor.
The big news at Gottex was its plan for an international launch of a lingerie collection next year. The line will be manufactured in Italy, where Gottex bought a lingerie manufacturer. Ron-Gavish would not give details of the acquisition, but said Miriam Ruzow, president, will design the line.
“We like this show very much. It’s very focused,” said Gwendolyn Widell, senior vice president of intimate apparel and merchandise development at The Warnaco Group.
Widell said she and her team came to Lyon to show the Warner’s European line, and also to source fabrics and components for Warnaco’s U.S. stable of brands, which include Olga, Warner’s and the licensed Fruit of the Loom names.
“Everything we wanted or hoped to find, we got,” said Donald Allen, designer of Warner’s bras.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
The Warnaco team was particularly enthusiastic about the trade show’s fabric library, which gives buyers an overview of exhibitors’ samples, and helps them select the firms to visit at the show.
“It enables you to discover new resources,” said Widell, noting that there is little time for buyers to seek out new resources at larger trade shows.
Another American exhibitor was VF Corp., which is preparing to launch a new line of lingerie under the Vanity Fair label in Europe. The development of this line is partly in response to changes in lingerie retailing here, said Philippe Tavenot, director of marketing for the Silhouette brand and Vanity Fair brand for Europe.
Bras in the Vanity Fair line for Europe will generally retail for $28. Distribution is aimed primarily at boutiques and department stores. The idea is to provide competitively priced products at a time when French consumers have become more price-conscious and are increasingly shopping in discount channels. Bras sold at hypermarkets and supermarkets generally retail from $15 to $24.50, compared with almost $40 or more at boutiques and department stores.
Tavenot added that a main topic of discussion for foundations manufacturers has been whether to cut back the two main collections presented annually to one or to present fewer styles in each collection.
“That’s the economic reality of today,” said Tavenot, noting that stores are plagued with inventory problems. “Our objective is to introduce products that have a longer life, like 18 months to two years. This will also be our strategy with the new Vanity Fair line in Europe.”
Tavenot said the Silhouette brand is being repositioned as a more tightly edited line that boasts comfort and fantasy. The line will continue to be sold to boutiques and department stores.
Fueled by the continuing popularity of sheer apparel, nude-tone lingerie was cited by exhibitors as an emerging trend.
Warner’s pitched its Not So Innocent Nudes line as a test for the European market. Not So Innocent Nudes, according to Warnaco, has been a hit in the U.S. market this year. In the past, the Warner’s brand was sold exclusively in Lyon. Also shown in Lyon was Warner’s line of shimmery nude bras and panties called Les Invisibles, a group that was marketed here in the Sixties.
The initial reaction to Not So Innocent Nudes has been “good,” said Francois Klotz, managing director of Warner’s France.
Two American firms showed their products at Lyon for the first time and said they were pleased with the results.
Roger Klauber, president of Klauber Bros Inc., a maker of rigid and stretch laces in New York, said he was pleased with the international attendance.
“We will definitely come back,” said Klauber, who also exhibits at Igedo.
Klauber’s bestsellers at Lyon included basic Chantilly lace and laces with lots of surface interest.
Dorita Vera, a swimwear firm from Miami, also was a newcomer to the Lyon show. “Lots of French retailers are coming to Lyon, and there are lots of Italians as well,” said Oswaldo Vera Ayestera, international director of Dorita Vera.