Première Vision Sets Calendar With Physical Events

April 15, 2021

PARIS — Première Vision has set its calendar for the year, filling it with physical events in the U.S., China and even Europe, including a gathering in Paris in the soaring temporary Grand Palais structure in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at the end of June.

“Buyers will be intrigued, because it’s not every day that a monument opens in Paris,” predicted Gilles Lasbordes, general manager of Première Vision. That event will take place on June 30 and July 1, featuring fabrics, leather, accessories and designs and offering the high-end fashion sector preliminary direction for pre-collections as well as fall 2022.

The temporary Grand Palais structure on the Champ de Mars was designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and built by GL events, the organizer of Première Vision. The structure will serve the city’s Olympic Games in 2024.

“We’re starting to have an agenda that is firming up,” said Lasbordes.

In the U.S., there are signs that a strong uptick in business is shaping up, he noted.

It’s the right time to position ourselves and reserve dates,” said Lasbordes.

A conventions center that has served as a vaccination spot in Portland will resume its vocation of hosting trade shows at the end of May, noted the executive. PV Sport has been scheduled in Portland on Aug. 11 and 12, and a new edition of that show is being added in Boston, on Aug. 18 and 19. Première Vision New York, meanwhile, has been set for July 20 and 21.

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The first physical show in months, Première Vision Shenzhen, runs on April 28 to 30, an event held in partnership with the Fashion Source show, featuring 52 international exhibitors in the areas of yarns, fabrics, leather and manufacturing. Services include a trends area and fashion seminars on the fall 2022 season.

In Europe, uncertainty in Italy has prompted organizers to hold Denim Première Vision online only, on July 5 to 9. That event had previously been scheduled to take place in Milan in May.

That show will be geared toward collections for fall 2022, featuring some 50 exhibitors including weavers, manufacturers and technology developers. It will include fashion webinars and virtual forums to show new products.

In the second half of the year, Denim Première Vision is scheduled to take place in Milan on Oct. 13 and 14 at the Superstudio Più and in Berlin on May 17 and 18 of next year at the Arena Berlin. Both Denim events will feature digital elements as well as the physical show.

Made in France Première Vision is set for the Carreau du Temple in Paris on Sept. 8 and 9 focused on the French fashion industry and featuring local materials and services.

The Première Vision Paris show, also a hybrid of physical and digital events, will take place at Paris Nord Villepinte on Sept. 21 to 23, featuring all sectors.

Première Vision, which began building digital platforms in 2018, have bulked up its system to allow exhibitors to keep in contact with buyers beyond scheduled visits. Organizers recently regrouped various shows under one site, including the denim and New York shows.

“Even if we return to physical shows, we won’t abandon the digital side — we have made a lot of progress on this front, we’ve improved our technology,” said Lasbordes. “We have a lot of visitors working digitally, and we won’t stop that, because it completes the experience and allows people to follow an event if they can’t attend physically,” he said. Events will now be a mix of the in-person and online.