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Première Classe makes room for new concepts
The September 2018 edition of the second season of Première Classe Tuileries will have a distinctly different flavour to its predecessor. The event’s organiser, WSN Développement, decided to proceed with only Première Classe Tuileries this season and will not put on the Paris-sur-Mode trade show that usually accompanies it. Unlike the trade show dedicated to accessories, the ready-to-wear portion saw a steady decline in visitors and finally chose to shut its doors.
The decision to move forward without Paris-sur-Mode will, however, be a gain and not a loss for Première Classe as the added space allows the event to strengthen its presence with fresh contributions. The three Première Classe tents at the Tuileries garden will all feature new additions this season: on top of the 420 accessories brands that will feature in the upcoming edition, there will also be 30 ready-to-wear brands and 24 lingerie and swimwear brands.
The trade show will make its first change immediately clear. The entrance to the event formerly faced the Place de la Concorde and ran straight into Paris-sur-Mode. However, this season, the entrance will be located at the side of the garden overlooking the Palais du Louvre as the organisers feel that this will allow for an easier circulation of visitors, who will be led through the entire length of the exhibition with the new route.
The trade show will be full of new spaces which will include two new themed areas that will serve to house ready-to-wear brands in the absence of Paris-sur-Mode. WSN Développement has selected a range of creative clothing brands to fill these two new arenas. The “Dressing” section of Première Classe will be split into two different “capsule” areas for ready-to-wear brands, one named “Flair” and one named “FuturaForma”. This will allow brands including Rue Blanche, Diega, NC.2, Han San, Good Old Days, Edward Achour, Rose Carmine, and Germaine de Prés to be split between the two areas according to theme. The brand selection will include some former exhibitors from Paris-sur-Mode but also many new additions as WSN Développement aims to use these new spaces to give Première Classe a new dimension that is more creative and “arty”.
The trade show’s other new arena is called “Exposed” which will run in partnership with Eurovet, the organiser of the summer lingerie trade show Unique. Première Classe will bring lingerie and swimwear to the trade show through this partnership. The selection has been curated by Matthieu Pinet and includes a number of young brands, well-known labels, and both mid-range and luxury brands. Some of the brands that will feature include Maison Lejaby, Chantal Thomass, Naelie, Albertine, Do Paris, and Only Hearts among others. This mix of brands with such strong identities aims to intrigue the audience of international buyers who will differ from those the brands usually encounter at specialist trade shows.
“The idea behind “Exposed” in the lingerie section is to reinforce the fashion thrust of the event. Now we have reached a new stage of progress and feel that the concept is mature enough and the selection well-rounded enough to present this to buyers during Fashion Week,” explained Matthieu Pinet regarding the introduction of lingerie and swimwear to Première Classe.
The event will feature spaces such as animations inside tents dedicated to accessories that will punctuate and add interest to the exhibition route and perhaps change the way visitors interact and indeed make purchases. To continue to surprise its visitors, the organisers of Première Classe have chosen to push the event in a more artistic direction this season. Carte blanche was given to Thomas Phélizon who had a mission to “provoke meetings between artists, visual artists, creators, designers, and musicians in order to stimulate inventiveness.” It is Phélizon’s prerogative to seize the theme of the trade show, “Future Fiction”. The theme will be especially apparent in the “Tours of the Future” installation created in collaboration with the artist duo Julien Ribot and Annabelle Jouot and through which artists are encouraged to “define the future through fiction.”
Finally, cutting edge design will be celebrated with two exhibitions, one showcasing the work of the finalists and winners of ANDAM (Afterhomework, Ludovic de Saint Sernin, Facetasm, Cecilie Bahnsen, Atlein, Worn, PB 0110, and D’heygere) and one showcasing photographs by Nolwenn Brod of the 2018 finalists of the Hyères International Festival of Fashion, Photography, and Accessories.
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