FALL/WINTER ’14/’15 PREVIEW:: Exhibitors reported busy aisles at Première Vision New York, where, organizers said, more than 4,000 attendees shopped the two-day show.
TEXTILES
PV and Indigo Share Space in New York
More than 4,000 designers and textile buyers turned out for the July 22–23 run of French textile show Première Vision New York, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion and Altman Building in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Phil Fox, owner of Los Angeles–based Fox Fabrics, was at the show with four of his lines, Japanese line Debs Corp. and Italian lines Efilan, SMI Tessuti and Profilo. Fox said Debs saw nearly 100 customers over the course of the two-day show, including “a handful of West Coast clients,” which Fox took as a sign that confidence in European fabrics is on the rise. Rather than trying to compete on price with Asian mills, European mills are stressing the quality of their fabrics, he said. “Luxe is in. … Contemporary fabrics are in demand.”
Kevin Maldonado, owner of Los Angeles–based Studio Bert Forma, was at the show with four mills, Philea/Velcorex from France, Ulysse Pila from Italy, Fancy Roses by Rodilosso from Italy and Simsek Tekstil from Turkey.
Maldonado said the traffic on the show floor was “definitely busier” and included some West Coast brands, such as BCBGMaxAzria and San Francisco–based Margaret O’Leary. Maldonado also was pleasantly surprised to see action-sports brands such as Quiksilver and Burton shopping Première Vision.
PV and its original print and artwork show, Direction by Indigo, shared space for the first time during PV’s July run in New York. (The two shows had already been co-located at the January edition.) Indigo’s 254 exhibitors showed their collections in the upper floors of the Metropolitan Pavilion.
Although co-located—the two shows are an opportunity for designers to shop both PV New York and Indigo—the timing was too soon for some of the designers who stopped by Diana Garreau’s booth.
Garreau, who owns original print house Diana Garreau Designs Inc., based in Laguna Beach, Calif., said some of the people she saw at Indigo were not ready to buy.
“People were looking more at the trends, rather than buying,” she said. “We have to fly back in two weeks.”
Still, Garreau said, at PV New York, she saw several designers from Brazil, which is a growing market for her. Plus, she said, “[Pacific Sunwear], for the first time in years, came to New York.”
