Are we finally seeing a revival of the economy? According to show organisers, the latest edition of Première Vision Pluriel (14 - 16 September 2010) was extremely encouraging with three days of intense activity and excitement, with stands that often never emptied out, busy traffic in the aisles where meetings and discussions continued, a shared desire for news and creative boldness, orders being written, and a palpable energy in all sectors.

Organisers report that figures confirmed the impression, felt by exhibitors and visitors, of a notably dynamic session and a return to business: the 6 Première Vision Pluriel shows (Expofil, Première Vision, Indigo, Le Cuir à Paris, ModAmont, Zoom by Fatex) jointly registered 61,440 visits from fashion professionals from over 100 countries across the world, an increase in attendance of over 10.2% over the September 2009 session.

“The new format of the show, now concentrated over 3 days, proved to be a positive and efficient step, strengthening the show's competitiveness and the lively atmosphere of business discussions underway,” a spokesperson said yesterday.

Première Vision / Expofil: attractive and efficient

Positive. "This September edition was rich in contacts like we haven't seen in ten years." This enthusiastic declaration by Italian weaver Mr Picchi from Prato was echoed, on the visitors' side, by a similarly positive statement by British designer Lucie Marquis: "The show is busier. All of the exhibitors are so friendly and welcoming." And that of Birgitt Gebauer, European Executive Board Ladies & Concept Division, C&A Buying (Germany): "It's a positive season ” you can feel it at our suppliers but also in the aisles and the forums too."

In fact, exhibitors and visitors to this September 2010 edition are making the same observation: the mindset has changed and the business climate has turned in a distinctively positive direction. As Laura Ortiz, from Textil Ortiz of Spain, put it: "Four of our former clients came back because they wanted to work again with their former supplier."

The same view was shared by Pierre Bonneville, of Jules Tournier of France: "It's a very good show. In two days we saw more visitors than in four days last year. All the contacts are high quality, and coming from all regions of the world ” in particular there are many Japanese."

And Nihal Kaya, of Bossa (Turkey), added, "We're happy both in terms of quantity and quality. It's raining clients ” they're everywhere."

For while exhibitors saw many clients, attracted by the creativity and exceptional quality of the products presented for this autumn winter 2011”12 fashion season, they also underlined the quality of buyers: decision”makers there with their teams, whose presence favours decision taking and a fully efficient work experience.

Efficiency. The key word of the season, efficiency, ended up being a pertinent one as well. Adding to the cutting”edge tools and fashion and marketing services made available, the show's new format, concentrated over 3 days, favoured a new dynamic.

While Antonio Medina, head of menswear buying at Induyco”El Corte Inglés (Spain) underlined that "We never feel as well guided and supported in our research as we do at Première Vision," Ike Wong, General Manager of Boo Gie Garment Co. Ltd (Hong Kong) happily pointed to the new length of the show: "The 3”day show this year is really busy and intensive, which makes our visit more efficient.”

Visits on the rise. This dynamic could also be seen in the figures. The Paris show, a worldwide barometer for fashion textiles, thus confirmed the positive trend observed during the earliest international shows for the autumn winter 2011”12 season. Première Vision Preview New York, held last July, closed with an increase of + 7 %. And Première Brasil, the show organised in Sao Paulo, also held in July, saw its attendance jump by + 50 %.

Together, Première Vision and Expofil registered over 42,000 visits for this September 2010 edition, up by 7.2% over September 2009. The percentage of international visitors, which continues to be exceptional, is also on the rise, now reaching almost 73% of the total.

With an increase of + 5 %, European Union countries altogether showed a rise, notably Italy (+ 11.7 %), Germany (+ 5.9 %), Belgium (+ 15 %), Spain (+ 25 %), the United Kingdom (+ 4.5 %) and Sweden (+ 39.7 %). Also in Europe, Switzerland recorded a rise of + 18.8 % while Norway jumped by + 57 %.

The American continent remained stable, with 1,700 professional visits registered for the U.S. and 400 for Brazil alone.

On the other side of the globe, Asian countries together showed a +15 % rise in visits, with significant increases for South Korea (+ 34.5 %), China and Hong Kong (+ 11 %), with over 1,500 visits, and Taiwan (+ 69 %). Japan, meantime, showed an increase of + 9.6 %.

Equally on the upswing (+ 22 %) were the Middle Eastern countries. Lebanon, Israel and Turkey recorded the strongest increases.

The Atelier Denim. Among the news this session, the new area dedicated to denim was a winner all around. International buyers (RTW and designers) appreciated this showcase dedicated to propositions appropriate for their markets.

Located within the Relax Universe, the Atelier Denim brought together 14 companies with an expertise in jeans fabric. The area was marked with a strong display and visual identity.

The area's special event was manned energetically in collaboration with WAD magazine, who shot the denim "it looks" of the session. A selection of these portraits will be presented during the next Denim by Première Vision show (1”2 December), as well as published in issue #47 of WAD.

The PV Awards 2010. Another initiative strengthened the attractiveness of Première Vision: the 2nd edition of the PV Awards, which brought together a large public on Thursday 16 September for the announcing of the winners, live, from the show's General Forum.

Jury president Ennio Capasa, founder and creative director of Costume National, unveiled the results and handed out the prizes, which distinguish textile excellence and the vitality of fabric creation, to the winners.

5 prizes were awarded:

The Grand Jury Prize 2010: LANIFICIO LUIGI RICCERI srl (Italy)

Handle Prize 2010: MARIOBOSELLI YARNS & JERSEY SpA (Italy)

Innovation Prize 2010: SCHOELLER TEXTIL AG (Switzerland)

Imagination Prize 2010: K .LINE Co. Ltd (Japan)

And, new this year, the Special Woolmark Prize 2010 : NIKKE”THE JAPAN WOOL TEXTILE Co. (Japan)

Complete photos of the shows and the PV Awards 2010 can be found at www.premierevision.fr

and  www.expofil.com

Indigo: designs still a must

An opening day that beat all attendance records, followed by a strong second day and a solid third day: the new format of Indigo was judged to be efficient and appreciated by visitors. A positive ambiance reigned over the show.

With 12,046 visits in 3 days, attendance at Indigo remains at very high levels, even if slightly down when compared with the 4-day September 2009 show. In effect, with the new formula, which is more dense and efficient, attendance is mathematically reduced by 4th-day re-visits. When compared with the first 3 days of September 2009, the number of visitors shows an increase. Even better, Indigo largely improved its visitors per exhibitor per day ratio, with an average number of contacts per company that is particularly high for an event of this size.

14, 15, 16 September 2010

The continued high rate of international visitors (71%) remains stable in terms of September 2009. While the four leading visitor-countries remain France (3,522 visits), the United Kingdom (1,274), Italy (928) and Germany (824), the order that follows is somewhat changed with Spain and Turkey outperforming the U.S., and China and The Netherlands moving ahead of Japan.

More than ever, designs were the stars of the show, with a fashion area proposing more exhibitors' artworks, both fixed and animated, a wall of images picking up the major directions from "Influences Autumn-Winter 11/12", and a display of scarves from Texprint’s Silk Scarf Competition, not to mention the exhibitors' stands with their own rich propositions and ideas. For Laura Silcock, casual wovens designer for George at Asda, Indigo is an event that can't be missed: “Indigo is massive for us in terms of new directional prints.”

In an undeniable indication of business activity and the appeal of creativity, the winners of the Texprint competition registered sales as of the first day.

During the prize-giving ceremony, marked also by the transfer of duties from exiting-president Julius Schofield to Barbara Kennington, Louise Trotter, creative director at Joseph, paid homage to all the unknown people who work behind the scenes in the fashion sector, who, much like the designers at Indigo, actively contribute to the creative process: “The fashion press only seem to want to focus attention on fashion designers,” she regretted, “ but it’s really important to praise the weavers, printers, knitters, embroiders who are behind all great fashion, but as Donna Karan says, it can be too complicated to tell the real story behind the clothes.”

Photos of the show are available at www.indigo-salon.com

Source: press release Premiere Vision SA.