PARIS — Bright colors, prints and mixed materials were the key fashion messages from apparel trade shows Who’s Next and Prêt à Porter Paris, held at the Portes de Versailles exhibition center here.
The preppy theme also remained prevalent in designers’ collections for spring 2012 showing at the four-day events that ended Sept. 6.
Visitor numbers at Who’s Next and sister accessories show Premiere Classe grew 6 percent to 48,778 compared with the September session last year, with 32 percent of those coming from abroad. International buyers fell 2 percent on year, with the biggest drops seen from North America and Germany — down 28.2 percent and 33.5 percent, respectively — while French visitors increased 11 percent.
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At Prêt à Porter Paris, international buyers represented 42 percent of visitors. Organizers said total visitor numbers increased slightly, without giving figures.
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One of the busiest stands at Who’s Next was newcomer Brigitte Bardot, backed by a group of anonymous investors, who recently purchased the fashion license from the iconic French actress. The 230-piece line includes pieces inspired by Bardot’s style in her heyday, including cropped gingham tops and swimsuits, pedal-pusher trousers and hippie pieces like long silk dresses, as well as T-shirts featuring muted photos of the star. Wholesale prices range from 15 euros for a T-shirt to 120 euros for a silk maxidress, or $21 and $169 at current exchange.
“The reaction has been extremely positive,” said the brand’s artistic director, Sarah Ohana. “We saw interest from all the major French stores, as well as department stores in the U.K., Japan, Italy, Russia and Turkey. About 50 percent of the buyers we saw were international, which was a fantastic surprise for us.”
The brand plans to select retailers and confirm orders later in the month, when it will be exhibiting at the Rendez-Vous show.
Other popular stands at Who’s Next included French designers Laurence Doligé and Ella Luna. Alison Newton, head buyer for the nine-store Mendocino chain in Toronto, was attracted by Doligé’s preppy style with a European twist.
“This is the second season of a collegiate… feel, and at this show there are a few European brands doing that style that we do not have in North America,” she said.
She added that despite business in Canada being positive right now, “We’re not doing a lot of buying here because of the euro. We look more at trends, and there are some beautiful collections, but when you translate prices, the American brands are a lot more salable.”
Another line she liked was Italy-based True NYC, which offers tapered poplin pants in a variety of colors and patterns like spots.
Marie Aoun, women’s wear trends consultant for South African retail group EDCON, owner of the Edgars chain, lauded Ella Luna as “the hottest brand” at Who’s Next, with its glamorous, colorful silk dresses.
Roxanna Allen, owner of Dublin multibrand store Rococo, was shopping for graphics and bright colors, and found what she was looking for in French brand Angels Never Die’s collection of asymmetric mixed-material dresses.
“Business is very tough in Ireland right now, but people still like to buy something that is different,” she said.
Angels Never Die, backed by London-based Turkish designer Bora Aksu, was launched in 2006 but has moved upscale for its last two collections, said David Parlak, director of distribution for Western Europe.
The brand is stocked in retailers like Fox’s in New York and had signed nine new orders on the first morning of the show. Its most popular items are hand-detailed dresses in linen, cotton and silk, with wholesale prices averaging 37 euros, or $52.
Other interesting lines at Who’s Next included Japan’s Nicholson + Nicholson’s nautical-inspired preppy line, and AvatarMade, a South Korean collection that made its debut at the show and is based on computer-generated graphic prints in bright colors inspired by traditional Korean symbolism.
At neighboring show Prêt à Porter Paris, the show’s So Ethic area of sustainable designers profiled young collections, including Dutch brand MLY Hermans, which is sold in 20 points of sale in the Netherlands and Belgium. Designer Emily Hermans said she had seen interest from stores in Belgium, France and Japan at the show.
Buyers had picked out her A-line blue silk patterned dress at 89 euros wholesale, or $125, as well as a green patterned viscose jumper dress at 69 euros, or $97, she said.
In the Now Showcase section of So Ethic, which highlighted American brands, Michigan-based knitwear designer Cynthia LaMaide was showing her signature collection to retailers for the first time. In the past, she has distributed the mixed-material collection made with Italian yarns at fine art venues, she explained, but plans to open up to retail. The line is soon to be featured in David Wain’s film “Wanderlust,” due for release on Oct. 7, in which Jennifer Aniston is seen wearing one of her dresses, priced from $300 to $350 wholesale, making the addition of retail accounts more likely.