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TISSU PREMIER LILLE GOES MORE INTERNATIONAL

Monday, 13 February 2012 11:38

Tissu Premier, which took place 18‐19 January 2012 in Lille, was a true B2B exhibition, with visitors who had carefully planned ahead and exhibitors putting together some exciting last‐minute displays bursting with creative flair. The exhibition showcased an exceptional range of innovative fabrics, presented thematically in dedicated forums that previewed short‐, medium‐ and long‐term collections across the men’s, women’s and children’s markets. Business was booming and exhibitors commented on the high quality of visitors, despite the 6% drop in numbers compared with January 2011. International participants rose significantly, however, with visitors from Spain, the UK and the Netherlands flocking to the fair to place advance orders for the Summer 2013 season, or to make short‐term purchases and repeat orders in response to the developing fast fashion sector. The next sessions will take place in June and November, a shift in dates that will allow visitors to attend Tissu Premier outside of the busy trade show calendar.

EXHIBITORS: 48% FRANCE – 52% INTERNATIONAL
Tissu Premier is becoming more international and this session welcomed exhibitors from 14 different countries, all with unquestionable expertise in the apparel textiles sector. Representatives from France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Syria and Pakistan met visitors’ high expectations, with an offer that was well‐priced and fashion‐forward.
An impressive amount of business was done between exhibitors and customers, who were looking to open up sourcing opportunities and collaborate with designers and textile manufacturers.
The own label collections presented by Northern European (outerwear) and Portugal (childrens wear) provided an essential complement to the branded collections.
The own label sector will take off at the next Tissu Premier session in June with the launch of COLLECTIONS, a dedicated exhibition for own‐label ready‐to‐wear and fashion accessories.

VISITORS: 69% FRANCE – 31% INTERNATIONAL
Lille has become THE fast fashion event for Northern Europe, attracting participants from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. 52% of visitors came for the womenswear collections, 20% for menswear and 28% for childrenswear. 17% came for the talks, 25% to sample new products, 25% to meet with existing suppliers and 35% to source new suppliers.

While the majority of visitors were looking to source fashion prints, there is growing interest in a number of other categories: 14% of visitors came for trimmings and accessories, 10% for organic fabrics, 10% for denim and casual wear fabrics and 11% for hi‐tech fabrics.

TISSU PREMIER’S ROLL‐CALL OF VISITORS
BELGIUM: Alice Et Maman, Bellerose, Blue Stores Lola Et Liza, Cassis, Fred & Ginger, Mdr Nv, Okaidi, Paprika, Premaman, Sogesma, Veritas / FRANCE: 3 Suisses, Agora Distribution, Armand Thiery, Auchan Centrale d’achats, Decathlon (B Twin, Domyos, Fouganza, Inesis, Kalenji, Domyos, Oxylane), Bande Originale, Berenice, Bizzbee, Blanche Porte, Cache‐Cache, Camaieu, Cevimod Devianne, Chanel, Chevignon, Crossways, Cyrillus, Damart, Dauphitex, Daxon Movitex, Descamps, Devernois, Devred, Dim, Dino E Lucia, Diramode Pimkie, Dutexdor, Eram, Etam Lingerie Sas, Eurodisney Sca, Galec, Grain De Malice, Groupe Beaumanoir, Groupe Etam, Groupe Zannier ‐ Kenzo/Jean Bourget, Groupe Zannier Decant‐Jullien, Groupe Zannier Absorba, Guy Laroche, Groupe Happychic, Jules, Id Group, Intermarché, Jacadi, Jacqueline Riu, Jennyfer, Julie Guerlande, Kiabi, La Halle, La Redoute, Lemahieu, Maisons du Monde, Maje, Miroglio, Monoprix, Okaidi, Orchestra, Patrice Breal, Pause Cafe, Phildar, Pmc Lingerie, Princesse Tam Tam, Promod, Redcats, Rouge gorge, Pauline, Scottage, Somewhere, Steffy Lingerie, Sonia Rykiel, Tally Weijl, Tape‐à)‐l’Oeil, Tartine et Chocolat, Terre de Marins , Tk Clothing, V Fortuna, Veronique Delachaux , Vert Baudet, Verywear, Wesco / GERMANY: Esprit, Orsay / NETHERLANDS: De Bijenkorf, Little Diva, Supertrash, We Europe / RUSSIA: Trading House Lina / SPAIN: Valenri SA / UK: Arcadia, Ais, Jones+Jones, Rachel Riley, Warehouse

OFFER AND FORUMS
As if to balance out economic uncertainty, the stands and trend forums were awash with colour and fancy. Daytime shades were soft, pale, fresh and simple, whereas the night‐time palette was deep and rich, evoking passion and fireworks.
Soft, flowing jerseys, glossy satins and colourful, single‐motif silk foulards were hugely popular, as were softlypatterned, billowing chiffons. Oriental designs continued to be the big story, almost pushing out tribal motifs, with the exception of more natural 70s‐style tie‐dye versions. Basics are deceptively hi‐tech and innovative, borrowing sports fabrics for modern urban wear.
Retro 60s surfer styling informs shirting fabrics, with classic Hawaiian prints and “action painting” motifs creating a cool, fresh, dynamic look.

Couture‐inspired themes made an appearance for winter, combining comfort and traditional luxury with an aristocratic “English eccentrics” look: an impressive leap in quality aimed at encouraging buyers to place advance orders for their new collections rather than repeat orders for their existing ones, and thus be the first on the market, acting as barometers of upcoming trends.
The yellow colour‐coded innovation trail proved that eco‐friendly, high‐performance “slow fashion” fabrics can and must exist alongside the more fast‐fashion‐oriented digital prints, across all collections and markets.

TALKS: FULLY ATTENDED ON BOTH DAYS
Tissu Premier is the first exhibition in the industry calendar, timed to take place at a point when forthcoming collections are still being developed. The three style talks played an important role: Peclers International provided a comprehensive review of the exhibition’s offer, while Trend Union introduced a more socially aware, design‐led approach, and Nelly Rodi with Opinion Way focused on marketing and sociological issues. The change in date should increase the demand for information on fashion trends and market analysis.

HIGHLIGHT: CHILDRENSWEAR
Judging from the success of the three talks and eighty B2B meetings that took place in the finished product manufacturers’ forum, Tissu Premier really gave buyers what they wanted, spotlighting Portuguese childrenswear with a dedicated forum. The forum was set up by the design duo “Mercredi”, Maisons de Mode’s chic new label, and linked to the theme trail indicated on the corresponding stands.