Even if the waves of Covid have made things difficult, our brands remain incredibly combative and creative!
How are French contemporary fashion brands and designers doing today?
Even if the waves of Covid have made things difficult, our brands remain incredibly combative and creative!
During these troubled times, they have been able to embody this universal message of French creativity to remain just as powerful and desirable.
Models have been turned upside down, but they have also reinvented themselves, proving the agility of our entrepreneurs.
More than ever, French brands have refocused on values such as innovation, respect for the planet and for people, while capitalising on the mastery of know-how and on the inscription in a history as ancestral as that of our civilisation, open to the world.
French fashion in the 21st century synthesises the future and the past while embodying the intelligence of the hand and the spirit.
Our "French touch" spirit is more powerful than ever and, by extending the conversation of their brands to communities that are now gigantic, our entrepreneurs have succeeded in strengthening their power on the international markets.
Is the UK market still of great interest to French fashion designers and brands?
The UK remains an essential market and not to develop there would be a mistake.
In fact, the UK is France's 7th largest customer in the ready-to-wear sector, accounting for 34% of our exports in the first half of 2022 (French customs figures - IFM calculations).
During a recent visit to London, I have been able to see the creativity of British distribution: from a digital point of view, if the United Kingdom remains the most advanced e-commerce market in Europe, on the retail side, your stores have been constantly innovating by proposing avant-garde concepts where the phygital and the community aspects are not overused terms.
How has the French Fashion Federation supported brands and designers wishing to export and sell to the UK?
When the time came for Brexit, the flow of business between French brands and British retailers slowed down or even stopped. Our role was to reassure them, to help them in this phase of adjustment and to provide them with tools and advice to maintain their volumes.
With the French Customs, we have organised a series of webinars to detail and anticipate the constraints caused by the UK's exit from Europe.
This support has really paid off in terms of reassurance and transformation: today, British trade shows are a real success and attract both the historic brands and the emerging brands that we represent.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the British retailers who have also embraced the challenge of these changes and have been able to adapt, particularly in terms of delivery costs.
Thank you so much and I look forward to welcoming you to Scoop which runs from 29 -31 January 2023 at the Saatchi Gallery, London.
