Crafting the Future: Florence Rousson on Premiere Vision’s Evolving Vision

Interview with Florence Rousson

Why is craftsmanship the leifmotiv of this edition at Premiere Vision?

As the market is changing at the moment with lots of crises, structural crises as well, I wanted to have this new proposal, the craftsmanship as a specific theme for this edition. We know the model and the proposals the market needs from us. That is why we are always thinking on new positioning for Premiere Vision.

In this edition we have launch a new way to see the trends and the fashion offers, also the trends area is different now, to promote more creativity, more inspiration as well, just to work with the DNA of Première Vision. It was important for us to come back and to have this view for the future also, to reinforce this positioning for the trends part. We worked hard with the fashion team for the inspiration forum, but also for the sourcing forum, to have a new proposal also for the market, with new contents, new conferences. We had a lot of pitches, talks… There were 75 persons coming to share ideas.

 

75 people, wow!

75, yes. It’s a huge program. It’s important for a brand to come and to find new sourcing solutions within the exhibitors area, inspiration within the trends area, trends forums, and also contents with the conferences. And it was also important being this the first year for me.  It was important just to imagine the scene in a new way, and that’s why we decided just a few months ago as well to move again to September, a date that will be more adaptive for the markets and for the creators. Premiere Vision will have a specific theme on September. It will be very focused on innovation and tech, and will be more open with an inspirational aspect for the beauty industry as well.

 

So, it is real. You will introduce this beauty section in the show next September…

Yes, this will be new for September. You know that today lots of brands are creating perfumes or products for nail art. They are here. They see this show as an exhibition about what’s going on in fashion, and they need to translate what they see here to the cosmetic industry, to the beauty industry. How can I project the fashion trends to my beauty business? This is what we will try to initiate in September. The idea is to become a fair adapted to the needs of the brands. Our idea is to move, to take into consideration the needs of the brands and to enlarge also our offer in terms of exhibitors, with more innovation, more tech. It will be interesting to develop this part regarding our DNA, to be also more inspirational with new topics in September.

 

How did the exhibitors and the visitors take this move to September? Is it something that came from them?

Yes. Before Covid, Premiere Vision was held in September. After the results we had during the last edition in July, that was not really positive, we saw it’s a very short time, from February to July, to have all the innovations, there are only 4 months. That’s why we decided to move again in the calendar. It seems to be better for the actors and the fashion brands in 2025.

 

The importance of evolving

In this edition, we saw more fashion, bags, shoes. Are these sections going to be growing in upcoming exhibition?

Yes. Also adding beauty, it’s going to be like… a lifestyle fair, actually. Of course, always related to fashion. It’s not about diversifying because we want to have more square meters, more visitors. Nowadays it’s not the battle of getting numbers. I have being working for 20 years for Première Vision. The good old time when we had like 70,000 visitors, Germany was represented by 100 exhibitors, this is not happening anymore. So now you have to offer the best from the industry, all the brands, and especially to have an offer where they can understand not only the trends, but get the information, inspiration and some sourcing solutions.

On the other side, they need also to understand what can they source here. They can not afford to come only for inspiration, and this is what we try to do. The idea is to find some topics that are inspirational. But in fact, we have to remain focused. And I think that we have done a great job here for more visibility for the offer this year. My objective is to have the right added value. Not to enlarge the number of exhibitors, of visitors, etc., but to have the right added value for the market, in terms of content, in terms of offer…

But again, we are not going to be a concept store. We want to give some guidance. Because those clients, they are here. Also the automotive industry. We are welcoming many brands: Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes… They are visiting Premiere Vision. They need to understand what’s going on in lifestyle. Where you live, what you wear, etc. It’s a decoding. We are becoming an inspiration and decoding platform to understand the trends coming from the fashion industry.

 

As you know, Luxiders Magazine is all about sustainable culture. This edition was focused on craftsmanship. Next edition, as you said, it’s going to be more tech focused. Maybe sustainability is going to be part of this tech future?

Yes, sure. Today we have some IA solutions to be more efficient in terms of production and creation of samples. I think that we have to promote also this kind of new solutions that are helpful to develop sustainability. And to renew also the topic about sustainability, which is an important topic for the show as you know.

The Eco-Innovation Seminar was packed.  Since many years we try to find some solutions to be eco-responsible for the fashion industry. But to be 100% sustainable it’s not possible. It’s mission impossible. To be honest. For example for accessories, you cannot really find eco-responsible solutions in zips and metals. It’s not possible. So now we are more open. And I think this is really the next step. To decode and to understand what are eco-innovation solutions in the future. There are some great developments. You met some of our exhibitors. For instance, maybe you saw fiber made of bacteria… But what is the reality of the business in the end? You’ve got innovation which push everything. But you also have the BAU business as usual. So how to leverage? We are here to inspire. To give the latest innovation. With a digital aspect, with a craftsmanship aspect.

It’s interesting to create the link. To take the time also for the designers. To understand what they are doing and how are they working. When you are in a show, it’s important to take the time to share information: problematics, topics etc. To take the time to have discussions. Because when you are at your company, you don’t have the time to think more strategically. It’s like to have more respiration. Dialogue, to talk with each other. It just opens a new direction. There is nothing compared to the inspiration you find here.