California Apparel News

Brazilian swimwear designers will be in the spotlight at Lyon, Mode City, to be held Sept. 3–5 at the Eurexpo convention and exhibition center in Lyon, France.

The 21-year-old swimwear and lingerie trade show, held in conjunction with textile show Interfiliegrave;re, will host a fashion show featuring Brazilian swim brands in recognition of the South American nation’s growing presence at the event.

“In beachwear, the largest growth area [at the show] is indeed Brazil,” said Patricia Harivel, Lyon, Mode City show manager. “However, we also have newcomers such as Chile, Colombia and Belgium.”

On the lingerie side of the show, there is a growing number of manufacturers from Poland and China. Other new participants include exhibitors from Peru, Romania, Ukraine and Colombia.

But the greatest amount of floor space will be dedicated to manufacturers that produce both swimwear and lingerie, a category dominated by French manufacturers. The number of French swimwear/lingerie exhibitors will double this year, according to Harivel. New exhibitors in the swim/lingerie areas of the show will hail from China, Estonia, Monaco, Portugal and Sweden.

The United States is still a small—but steady—portion of the mix at Lyon, Mode City. Last year, the show featured 17 U.S. exhibitors. This year, 16 American companies have signed on, including newcomers P.J. Salvage, a loungewear label from Anaheim, Calif.; Mary Green, a lingerie brand from San Francisco; and Juicy Couture Swim, the Los Angeles–based division of New York manufacturing giant Liz Claiborne.

Returning exhibitors include New York–based Warnaco; Los Angeles–based Jonquil; and lingerie giant Maidenform, owned by Los Angeles–based Ares Management LLC.

The show, which typically draws 20,000 attendees, has already registered 440 U.S. buyers, including representatives from Nike Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Frederick’s of Hollywood.

Peter Burke, owner of P.J. Salvage, will be at Lyon, Mode City looking to expand the distribution of his collection of sleepwear, loungewear and intimate apparel.

“We’re in the stage where we need to grow internationally,” he said. “We have quite a few customers around the world, especially in Europe. We really need to have a presence there.”

The company got its start nine years ago with whimsical and trend-driven sleepwear and loungewear before expanding recently into intimate apparel. Burke said the company typically shows at apparel trade shows such as MAGIC International, Fashion Coterie and Intermezzo but this year added lingerie-focused shows Lingerie Americas in New York and Lyon, Mode City to its schedule.

“For us, one of the reasons to go is we’re really finding growth on our intimates side,” he said, adding that the time is right for European expansion of the company’s sleepwear and loungewear divisions, as well.

“I think Europe is ready for sleepwear and loungewear,” Burke said. “I think their intimates are fantastic, [but] they are lacking in the sleepwear department. I think it needs a shot in the arm, and I think all the American companies are a good few years ahead of their European counterparts.”

Burke said he has set up a few appointments to meet with European distributors.

“Ideally, what you want is to have a different distributor in each country, as opposed to one distributor for the whole of Europe,” he said. “Each country is totally different, and we want to find a local company that can represent us.”

Fashion shows and market reports

In addition to the Brazilian runway show, Lyon, Mode City will present several daily trend shows covering the swim and lingerie markets and featuring some of the more than 1,000 brands exhibiting at the show.

Eurovet, which produces Lyon, Mode City, launched a market-focus workshop program in January at Salon International de la Lingerie in Paris and will continue the tradition in August in Lyon.

Show organizers will present workshops on the Brazilian and Australian markets for swimwear and one on the Middle Eastern market for lingerie.

Other seminars will include daily trend forecasts, a workshop on the French lingerie market and a workshop on men’s underwear and swimwear presented by French designer Stephane Passier.

Eurovet heads to China

When the doors close on Lyon, Mode City, Eurovet will head to Shanghai for the launch of its newest lingerie trade show, Shanghai, Mode Lingerie, to be held at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

The Oct. 26–28 event will feature the Ultra Lingerie runway show, which will present both Asian and European lingerie labels. The trade show will also feature textile and trim show Interfiliegrave;re Asia and Private Lingerie, a showcase of International and Asian lingerie brands at which buyers can set up individual meetings with manufacturers in a private setting.

Eurovet said the new show has two purposes: to access the large apparel and textile manufacturing base in China and to tap into China’s growing consumer market.

For more information, contact Anne-Manuele Hebert, international promotion manager for Eurovet, at amhebert@la-federation.com or (33) 1 47 56 32 02.